


Broken Glass

by My_Marvel_Musings



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Language, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2020-11-06 11:42:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 43,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20794916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Marvel_Musings/pseuds/My_Marvel_Musings
Summary: Reader has been Steve’s friend since he joined the Avengers. Always there to lend him a hand to face the new world, the two become inseperable as he settles into his new life with his new team. But when the dust settles from the war with Thanos, Steve thinks of how much he misses Peggy and returns to her after returning the stones. Heartbroken, Reader leaves the team to follow a much darker path. What will become of the pair when Steve realizes it was Reader all along who had his heart only to return to find out the newest supervillain is her?Timeline: Avengers to EndgameRequested by Broken Glass Anon





	1. Cap Makes a Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just 48 hours before the events in New York, Steve makes an unusual friend as he tries to navigate being unfrozen.

“Don’t worry, Cap. Agent Coulson will show you to your room and we’ll get you feeling like home here.” Director Fury tried to reassure the super-soldier. 

“It’s just…. it is a lot to take in, Director Fury.” Steve followed Nick Fury as he leads him around the helicarrier, Agent Coulson at their heels like an excited puppy.

There had been a word of a disturbance in Germany - the demi-god Loki to be precise - and time was of the essence. Natasha was already leading Dr. Banner to the lab for him to get set up and do his best to track the tesseract. No word about whether or not Stark would be joining to help the team out. Most likely he would show up in his own overly dramatic fashion as always.

“From what I’ve heard you’re a fast learner and quick to adapt. There won’t be much you see that will shock you.”

As the men rounded a corner, Steve came to a sudden halt and there was a noise of something hitting the ground hard.

“Ooof!” Steve put his hand on his chest where he had just been hit. Only…. nothing was in front of him. “What- what just happened?”

“Well, I was hoping to ease you into her kind in a more gentle fashion however timing was never her forte.”

“Ha ha,” came a sarcastic laugh from the empty spot in front of them. “Like I had any idea you guys were gonna come around that corner.”

Steve turned his head to look over the empty spot in front of the men. “Um, I know I was frozen for seventy years, but my eyes can’t go bad. So…”

Fury motioned at the empty space. “Captain Rogers, I’d like you to meet Agent _____ ____, also known as Glass. Glass, meet the one and only Captain America.”

Before Steve’s very eyes, you shimmered into view - now standing on your feet. “Hey, sorry about that. I’m normally way better at making sure no one runs into me when I’m clear. It’s nice to meet you, Captain.”

Steve shook your hand out of habit and politeness, but it was clear he was very confused. “I- I-”

“I think I broke him.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time you broke SHIELD property.” Fury smirked.

“Again, ha ha,” you turned towards Steve. “Sorry, this whole meeting was supposed to go completely different. I’m a mutant. What you just saw me do was an extension of my X-Gene.”

“You’re what?” Cap’s eyebrows furrowed together.

Fury chuckled. “Let’s get you both to the lab. I’m sure Dr. Banner would love to hear this as well.”

As you walked down the hall, you tried to give Steve some distance to recover from what he had seen. Mutants weren’t anything new, but they weren’t exactly parading around back in WWII when Steve grew up. You didn't even have to glance in his direction to know he was sneaking looks at you; his thoughts were loud and clear to you. A curse of your mutation.

In the lab, Natasha was watching Dr. Banner set up the lab to work best for him in his search. They both looked over at your group walking in.

Nat smirked, "hey Glass. Lemme guess. Captain America tripped over you in the hall?"

"You're not too far off actually." You walked over to Banner to introduce yourself.

"Oh right, the mutant working for SHIELD." He pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I mean, I guess. But I usually go by ____ or Glass." You giggled at Banner blushing. "Fury told me you'd want to hear about my X-Gene."

"Yeah, I mean that would be great. Do, uh, do you need-"

"No worries, Dr. Banner. I got this." You walked over to the many touch screens in the lab and began to pull up your files. One of them being the mapping of your geno. "If you gentlemen would watch closely, you'll see my DNA contains an extra chromosome. This is the X-Gene. It's what gives mutants their powers."

Banner's eyebrow's furrow. "This... this can't be possible. The position of the gene would make you a different species from humans."

"You're closer than you think, Dr. Banner. With the X-Gene, mutants are actually a different subspecies. Humans are Homo Sapiens while mutants are Homo Superior, aka the next step in evolution. At least, that's how some view us." You pulled up another file to show a human DNA strand next to your own. "We're different subspecies but still compatible. It's said that the gene is carried on the father's side, but we still don't have hard evidence either way."

"You mean that there are humans carrying the gene but it's dormant?" Steve walked closer to look at the screen next to Bruce. "Could they be activated at any time?"

"Theoretically, yes. Most mutants have their powers activated during puberty. It's usually triggered by extreme amounts of stress. However, there has been a case or two where the gene is activated in adulthood. Though, those people are usually referred to as mutates. But I only know of one of the top of my head. It's not a common way to gain your powers."

"So what are your powers? Besides turning invisible so people can trip over you?" 

You glanced over to see Steve giving you a teasing smirk. "Well, when I'm not underfoot like a cat I also have telepathy and telekinesis. I'm similar to a cousin of mine, though she covers her skin in a layer of diamonds instead of becoming invisible."

"Do all mutants have a different variety of the same powers?"

"No, that's the most baffling thing about the X-Gene. Every mutant has different powers. Some even change physically. And I mean beyond me turning clear. Fur, teeth, claws, wings. You name it, a mutant probably has it. I'm one of the few lucky ones in that most can't tell that I'm different."

"Gotta admit if you had shimmered into view with a pair of wings I would have thought I was still frozen in the ice having the weirdest dream."

Both of you laughed at the absurdity. Nat smirked in your direction, "aw, c'mon now. We'd still love you even with wings."

"Yeah, but we both know Barton would be begging for a ride to work every day." The reminder of Hawkeye caused you and Nat to grow silent. Just twenty-four hours ago he had been compromised by Loki and it hurt to not have him there to ease the situation.

Steve cleared his throat. "Is, uh, is everything ok?"

"Yeah, we were just reminded that we're missing Barton so we're currently not the Three Amigos of SHIELD. It's- it's really odd." You fidgety for a moment before pulling your file off the screen. "But we'll get him back. We've never left someone behind and we sure as shit won't start now."

"Do you think your telepathy will help him?" Banner asked.

"Maybe. If not, I know someone who's powers are stronger than mine. He can certainly help."

Growing uncomfortable with the reminder of her missing friend - and not one for wearing her emotions on her sleeve - Nat turned and left the lab, no doubt to bother Fury about something minor.

"Is she going to be ok?" Steve looked after her.

"Yeah. It's just harder for her. Barton was the one who saved her from the KGB, and in turn, they found me. They've been together as partners for a few years before I started tagging along. It hasn't been easy for her, despite the face she puts on."

Just then, Fury burst into the room. "Suit up. We have a location on Loki."


	2. The Fight Against Loki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers fight the Chitari for Earth

The blast from the Chitari gun hit your midsection. It sent you flying above an over-pass where Nat, Clint, and Steve helplessly watched you soar overhead and down into a city bus, causing it to split in half.

“GLASS!” You could hear Steve’s frantic cry as you laid in the midst of what was left of the bus. Citizens that had been in the city were fleeing all around, some even in the bus you just hit. Damn, those weapons packed a punch.

“She’ll be fine, Cap,” you could hear Clint above the crackle of a nearby fire and the screams of the civilians. Well, heard being a subjective term. “Her powers protect her subconsciously. It happens as easily as us breathing.”

Well, it would if you had better control over them. But Steve didn’t need to know that in the middle of a war. And you were sort of protected when that blast nailed you.

Coughing, you pulled yourself up in time to see a small hoard of Chitari heading straight for you. Turning to face them, you held your hands out to the side and the remains of the bus groaned and scraped against the road. You gritted your teeth as you concentrated and the two halves of the bus lifted into the air. With a cry of rage, you flung each section in turn at the oncoming horde. The bus mowed them over like pins in a bowling alley.

“Nice form! I give it an eight out of ten.” You heard laughter from above. 

“Fuck off, Barton,” you laughed back.

Suddenly, Thor dropped right next to you on the road. “Lady Glass, I am going to confront my brother, but I feel it would be best if I had your help.”

“My help?”

“Loki uses mind tricks as well and I need someone who can help predict what he will do. Though I’m afraid of what he’ll do when he sees you with me.”

Mind tricks. Not the first time you’ve had your powers called that, and it didn’t hurt any less this time. You could feel a tiny crack in your glass, but you shook it off knowing that Thor hadn’t meant any harm. His world was vastly different than yours. Instead, you pressed a smile to your face. “Gotcha covered.”

You grabbed his cape then shimmered out of view. Thor blinked and then smiled. “Off we go then.”

Thor spun his hammer and the two of you took off into the air, heading for Stark Tower. He landed on a balcony close to the top of the tower, where his brother stood watching the chaos below. You remained invisible as Thor slowly approached Loki. 

The God of Chaos didn’t even bother to turn to face his brother. “Back again, Thor? I would have thought you’d understand by now that there is no stopping this.”

“Loki, you must listen. Together we can stop this.”

“Us? Or your little tag along?”

Thor froze in place, but you kept your calm. You could hear Loki’s chaotic thoughts the moment you landed on the deck and it was no surprise that he could hear yours in return. The only advantage you had was Loki would have no idea where exactly you were.

“How are you capable of hiding her from me, may I ask? I thought only Mother and I used these tricks.” Loki turned fully to face Thor. “No matter. She will be as useless to stop me as your other hopeless companions.”

He swung his scepter at Thor, fully intending to make contact with his head. But when the staff stopped before Thor could even raise Mjolnir, both gods stopped in surprise. That’s when you shimmered into view, your hands up in front of you.

“Perhaps the next time you want to conquer a planet, you better make damn sure it’s not inhabited by mutants. People have been trying to repress us since the dawn of man, and we sure as shit don’t take this lying down.”

Loki grinned at you. “Well aren’t you an adorably ferocious kitten. But your little powers are no match for a god!”

He backhanded Thor, causing him to fly into Stark Tower and then began to fight your powers. Your feet slid against the smooth floor as Loki tried to bring the scepter’s point close to your heart. The bright blue glow reminded you of how Barton’s eyes looked when he was compromised and you instantly knew how it was done. Digging deep, you sent out a small wave to try to push the god away from you. But he was stronger than he looked and held his own.

Crack, crack, crack. Three more tiny fissures appeared in your glass.

Gritting your teeth, you could feel a swell inside you. Deep from the back of your mind. Your powers begging to take control. 

Loki’s eyes flashed briefly in surprise when he thought he saw a tiny white glow in your eyes. But it was gone as soon as it came as you yelled out, your powers momentarily unleashing - tossing the god off the building and his scepter flying up and out of his hands. 

Thor had sat up just in time to see his brother tumble and ran to the side of the building. But Loki merely used the moment to catch a ride from a passing Chitari. Turning back to you, he saw that you had dropped to one knee as you panted from the energy you just used.

“Lady Glass, are you alright?”

You tried to answer him, but couldn’t find the words.

Barton spoke in your ear. “Hey Stained Glass, what’s going on? Talk to me!”

But still words wouldn’t come and you dropped your other knee.

“Thor, what the status on Glass?” Nat questioned.

“I am unsure. She used her powers against Loki and now she looks quite ill.”

“What do you mean ‘ill’?” Barton sounded fairly panicked in your ear.

“Like she may faint.” Thor came over and knelt beside you. “She looks very ashen at the moment.”

“Fuck, she overdid it,” Nat cursed. “Thor, can you keep an eye on her? See if Shell Head still has a couch in one piece for her to lie on. When this is over, we know exactly what to do.”

“I am needed in the battle. We cannot let this continue to rage on.”

“No! Keep an eye on Glass! I see Loki’s scepter. It may help us stop this. Please Thor,” Nat pleaded.

Thor sighed, “As you wish Agent Romanov.”

He looked back at you to help you move, only to watch your eyes roll to the back of your head and you passed out. Quickly, he scooped you up and ran inside the building to find a safe place to lie you down. 

“Lady Glass, can you hear me? Agent Barton, she seems to have passed out.”

“What?! Stark, I need a lift to your building!”

“No can do, Legolas. A nuke is heading straight for us and I need to put it somewhere safe.”

“I’m closing the portal, Hawkeye. I’ll hop down once I’m done. So hurry up Stark!”

The ending of the battle seemed to happen in slow motion. Clint tried to race through the destroyed city to get to the tower on foot as the Hulk help catch Stark from his free fall. Steve raced over to make sure Tony was ok, only to hear the first words once waking up to be: “did we win?”

Followed by:

“What happened to Glass?”

An answer Steve wanted badly for himself as well.


	3. The Aftermath of New York

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glass shows another side to her powers.

It baffled the hell out of you that a shawarma restaurant had actually remained open, not only during the alien attack but afterward as well. Though you suspected that Stark probably bribed them. Either way, you weren’t complaining. The food was amazing and it was blissfully quiet. 

Although everyone seemed preoccupied with their food, you knew they were keeping a watch out of the corner of their eyes. Especially Clint and Nat who were your surrogate family. You and Barton each took up half of a chair, your back against his shoulder as you faced Steve. Nat had one leg stretched across Barton’s lap. 

Steve smiled over at you. “Seemed to be better than earlier.”

You nodded your head. “The food helps. And having this dumbass back.”

Clint smiled as you used your back to nudge him. “Who you calling dumbass? I wasn’t the one who tried to go toe-to-toe with a demi-god.”

“Clint!” Natasha hissed.

“Oh shit. Sorry, Glass.”

You put your food down. “No, you’re right Barton. What I did was stupid. But don’t worry. I’m sure Xavier will chew me out enough to cover both of you guys.”

“Who’s Xavier?”

You looked over and couldn’t help but smile at Steve’s innocent blue eyes. “Professor Charles Xavier. He runs a school for mutants over in Westchester County. It’s where I lived before deciding to work for SHIELD. I still go back often to have a safe place to practice and stretch my powers.”

Steve’s eyebrows furrowed. “Is he mean or tough?”

“No,” you sighed. “He’s very much a father figure to a lot of people at that school. And that’s what’s worse: the feeling like you’ve disappointed him. I’ll have to see him about what happened before I’ll be allowed to do any missions with SHIELD.”

“Why?”

You couldn’t answer him. It had been hard enough to explain to Barton and Romanov, and they had been exposed to mutants. 

So Nat answered for you. “Mutations of the mind can be the most powerful. And the hardest to control. Especially….. well, let’s just say mutations come in power levels. It’s really complex.”

During this conversation, Tony had been uncharacteristically quiet, no doubt still contemplating how he had almost died today. The thoughts of his that had been on the surface, however, revolved around you. He shoved the last bite of food into his mouth and leaned across the table towards you.

“So let me get this straight, Frosted Glass,” you rolled your eyes at the new nickname but smiled all the same. “You had a chance to be an X-Men and you gave it up to work for the stiffs at SHIELD?”

“Trust me, there are very few stiffs at SHIELD.” Your tone grew quiet. “Not even Coulson could be described that way.”

The table grew quiet as you all remembered the fallen agent. Coulson had been the one to recruit you and had become a fast friend. His dry sense of humor and adorable love of all things Captain America had been hard to ignore. 

Nat cleared her throat. “Remember that time for Coulson’s birthday, when we snuck him into the museum after closing hours.”

You and Clint instantly broke out into huge grins. Clint began to chuckle, “wasn’t that because of the Captain America exhibit that was opening up?”

Steve perked up at this and you winked at him. “I remember him running around like a kid in a candy store looking at all the items the museum had recovered. And that toy shield you got him, Nat?”

Nat couldn’t help but smile as well. “If he had thought for one moment it could be thrown like the real shield, we would have been banned for life. Something would have been broken that night.”

“What are you talking about? Something was broken that night.”

“Ok, in my defense I had no idea their AC unit was awaiting repairs.”

You and Nat doubled over laughing at Clint’s statement, who was trying to act all cool but his ears were slowly turning red from embarrassment. “Oh my god. I thought Coulson was going to lose his voice with how much he yelled at you.”

“Coulson AND Fury,” Nat giggled. 

“I don’t understand,” Thor spoke up.

You calmed down enough to answer. “Barton over here has this funny habit of using the air vents of any building he’s in. He’s pretty good at it. Except when said vents are not properly bolted to the ceiling.”

“Yeah, ha ha. Laugh it up.” Clint pretended to sulk.

“Ok,” replied you and Nat before laughing some more.

Tony cleared his throat after a few minutes and went back to grilling you. “But seriously, how come you didn’t become an X-Men? That seems like it would be right up your alley.”

You nodded your head. “Normally, yes. But I’m not the only one who can do what I do. Dr. Jean Grey has telepathy and telekinesis as well. At the omega level. It seemed like overkill to have both of us on the team.”

He nodded his head at your explanation, but you knew he didn’t buy the whole story. Hopefully, the truth wouldn’t come to the surface anytime soon. You stood up.

“I need some air.” Before anyone could utter a word, you walked outside. 

You hadn’t come outside for any form of privacy. The restaurant’s windows were piles of glass inside and out, cops and SHIELD agents still ran around the destroyed streets, and just three feet from you…..

_ How did you come by so much power? Is it truly in your genes? You’re only a mere human. _

Gagged or not, the demi-god had been determined to try to have a conversation with you ever since his capture.

You glanced over to see he was still in the same position since you had stopped for lunch: special handcuffs Thor had provided now chaining him to a bike rack, special muzzle still preventing him from talking, and Mjolnir parked on his chest to keep him from escaping. 

Loki’s eyes tried to probe you, but you looked away. Best not to engage.

_ You have so much potential if it’s true. Why waste it here on Earth? _

You rolled your eyes but kept ignoring him. It didn’t matter that he was trying to talk to you. He wouldn’t get far. There was only so much probing that could be done to your mind.

_ Ow. _

There it was. A tiny smirk teased at the corners of your mouth. 

_ What in name of all the gods is that? _

You couldn’t help but gloat a little.  _ What’s the matter? You don’t like my glass wall? A shame, I worked so hard on it. _

_ A glass wall? What in Odin’s name is it for? _

_ To keep nosey assholes like yourself away from my most inner thoughts. Now, if you don’t mind, I find you rather boring to talk to. I mean, honestly. Who tries to conquer a planet without knowing the inhabitants they are trying to rule over. No wonder you failed. _

_ All that power and you can’t see the danger right in front of your face. _

You snapped your head to glare at him.  _ You’re not the dangerous one in this situation. The glass wall isn’t just to keep people out. _

That caught his attention.  _ Oh? Do explain. _

Shit. Too much. You gave away too much. 

_ Maybe it shouldn’t have been Dr. Banner I released on your floating fortress. Maybe you were the key all along. _

There was a more important reason for the glass wall inside your head. One that Professor Xavier had to remind you over and over again. But sometimes, it was hard to remember that reason. Sometimes, some little asshole that didn’t know any better, would make you forget.

Faster than Loki thought was possible for a human to move, you were crouched at his side and your hands now grabbing each side of his face. He saw that tiny white glow again in the pupils of your eyes and you were suddenly in his mind. Farther than anyone else - including his own mother - had gone before.

“Glass, no!” Clint ripped you away from your grip on the demi-god and you were snapped out of your trance. You blinked up into Hawkeye’s face and saw the concern etched there. Behind him, Nat and Steve were carefully watching you. 

And that’s when it all sunk in. Everything you had pulled from Loki’s mind. One thousand years of memories, painful and joyous. The real reason for invading Earth. The real threat to come.

Crack.

This time the crack in your glass was a little bit bigger.

“Guys, I need to get to Xavier. Now.”


	4. Mutants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve Meets the X-Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry everyone! This past month was a dumpster fire! Hopefully this longer chapter makes up for all that.

The motorcycle rolled through the open gates, down the drive, and around the fountain that stood before the front steps of a very impressive mansion. Steve dismounted and took a long look at the massive property, wondering if he had read the address correctly. He wouldn’t put it past Stark to prank him.

Before Steve could wonder too much, the front door opened and a man covered in all blue fur and wearing a suit came strolling out.

“Ah, you must be Captain Rogers. I’m Dr. Hank McCoy.”

Steve shook his hand, trying to wrap his head around the claw-like hand and beast face before him. “Nice to meet you. This, uh-”

“Is your first time meeting mutants outside of Glass?” Steve chuckled and nodded his head. “I understand. Seen this several times before. Come on inside and have a look around. I know the Professor is looking forward to meeting you.”

“I’ve heard a lot about him. He sounds like a really good guy.” Steve followed Hank into the mansion. He cleared his throat. “How’s Glass? Is she….?”

Hank could hear the hesitation in the question. You may not have known Steve for very long, but you had already made an impression on him and he was clearly worried. He smiled and patted Steve on the back. “Don’t worry. Glass is doing just fine. She finished with her session with the Professor and is now out back helping Logan with some new students. You can see her after you meet Charles.”

Inside the mansion, Steve was surprised to see that although it still looked like a home it was clearly now a school. Students were rushing off to classes, teachers were in doorways ushering kids in, book bags were found left on chairs and couches, and a giant man was walking up holding a box of food for the kitchen.

He stopped in front of the pair and spoke in a thick Russian accent. “Hello, Hank. And who is this gentleman? New teacher?”

“No, Piotr. This is Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. He worked with Glass to stop the alien invasion in New York. Steve, this is Piotr, though the kids call him Colossus.”

Colossus went to put the box in one hand to greet Steve when suddenly his whole body began to cover itself in metal. When he was done, he stood another foot taller and now had an annoyed look on his metal face. Piotr turned around and yanked a person up into the air. Steve’s jaw had dropped slightly at the display of metal and now full-on hit the floor as he watched Colossus hold a full-grown man two feet off the ground. 

“And that is Deadpool,” Hank commented calmly. “He thinks it’s wise to sneak up on other mutants to test their powers.”

“What happened to his hand?” Steve blurted out before he could stop himself.

“Logan cut it off with his claws. We’ve told Wade several times to leave him alone, and he never listens. It will be a couple of days while it grows back.”

“The old man is just playing hard to get!” Deadpool protested. “He knows we’re meant to be.”

Colossus rolled his eyes and began to carry Deadpool away. He called over his shoulder. “It was nice meeting you, Captain Rogers.”

“Uh, likewise.” Steve looked back at Hank. “Did you say he would grow his hand back?”

Hank nodded and lead Steve down a hallway. “It’s part of his mutation. Some mutants, like Logan and Wade, heal at an amazing rate. Unable to die except perhaps by old age one day.”

Deep into the school Hank lead Steve, until they stood in front of a pair of french doors. An elegant British voice called through the doors. “Please enter.”

Beyond the doors stood an impressive office. Steve wanted to focus on the desk in front of him, but he couldn’t help but look around at all the many photos displayed on the walls. Most of them seemed to feature a gentleman in a wheelchair, with a past President, with what had to be the X-Men, and with…. Howard Stark and Peggy Carter?!

“Yes, you are seeing that correctly, Captain Rogers. I knew both Mr. Stark and Agent Carter when they were first forming SHIELD. But much like Hank Pym, I could sense the darker side hiding just below.” Steve turned to give the voice a piece of his mind but stopped when he saw a pair of kind eyes in an older gentleman’s face. “I know what you are going to say. But unfortunately, it’s true. As it can be for much larger organizations. It’s the reason why Dr. Pym eventually left SHIELD. The X-Men have had their stumbles before as well, don’t ever doubt that.”

Cap closed his mouth and turned back to the photo. This was clearly several years after Steve had crashed into the ice. Peggy was a little older, but still, the woman he knew and loved. “She helped found SHIELD?”

“Oh yes, she was quite an important cog to the machine as a whole. And she never let anyone forget it.”

Steve gave a faint smile. “Sounds like her.”

Xavier studied Rogers for a few moments before making up his mind.  _ And how are you handling the change? To the new world? _

Steve whirled to find a source to the voice and only saw the Professor smiling. It hadn’t even occurred to him, until that very moment, that Hank was no longer in the room. 

The voice continued.  _ My powers are similar to that of Glass. I possess telepathy alone and I am one power level below her and Dr. Jean Grey. _

That’s when it dawned on Steve that the voice was inside his own head. He slowly turned to face Xavier. “What do you mean ‘one power level lower’?”

“Mutations come in power levels,” Xavier said out loud. “Glass is that of an Omega. There is no foreseeable end to what she can do. If she can imagine a scenario, it will happen. It’s part of why SHIELD was so eager to recruit her.”

“That level of power sounds-”

“Dangerous?” The professor finished.” It can be. Which is why I insist on her and Jean coming here for therapy sessions at least three times a month. More so if an incident similar to what Glass experienced with Loki occurs.”

Steve mulled over the words in his head. “And what would happen if Glass hadn’t come here? If she stopped her therapy altogether?”

Charles recognized that tone and he wasn’t surprised it came from Steve. “You’re worried we’re trying to control her. Or that SHIELD is. Or both.”

“Forgive me, but you can see how someone would make that assumption.” 

Charles nodded his head. “Yes, to someone not from our world, I can easily see how that looks. But it’s not so black and white, Captain Rogers.”

“Then please explain, Professor.”

“Mutants that powers are that of the omega level are stronger than any other mutant for the sheer fact that their powers are based in the subconscious part of their minds. Whereas a normal mutant has to train and practice to make their powers feel like second nature, a mutant with omega level powers are already there. Their powers are purely instinctual. So when they train and practice, it’s to make sure that they control their powers. Not the other way around.”

Steve finally sat down in a chair across from Xavier’s desk. “So you’re saying….”   


“That if left unchecked, powers like that of Glass can grow out of control and take her with them. They could lead her down a path that there will be no returning from.” Xavier smiled kindly at Steve again. “But you didn’t answer my question earlier, Captain. How are you adjusting to the new world?”

Was he seriously being asked this after being told his teammate could turn on them at any moment?

“Not at any moment, Captain Rogers. It would take a great deal to shatter her in that manner.” Steve did a double-take and then remembered Xavier could read his mind. “Glass has a good support system around her, both here and at her work. Every friend she gains just helps as a reminder to keep that glass wall in her mind intact.”

“Glass wall?”

“A barrier her and I created to make sure her powers stay in check. She can access them at any time but on her accord not the power’s.”

“Except when she was around Loki.”

Xavier sighed and nodded his head. “Yes, that was an unfortunate situation. While their powers were on similar levels, Loki has had over a thousand years to perfect the use of his. She was able to penetrate his mind but it cost a small piece of hers.”

“What happened?”

“I am still unsure. With the nature of who Loki is, we aren’t even sure if what she saw was an ounce of the truth. And if any of it is the truth, then we will need to band together. Not just as two teams, but as a planet as a whole.”

Those words sent a chill down Steve’s spine. What could possibly come that would require the entire planet to come together? If what happened in New York wasn’t enough, what awaited them?

But Steve never got an answer. Instead, the Professor wheeled himself from behind his desk and over to the doors leading out into the hall. “There will be plenty of time to plan, Captain Rogers. No use worrying over what we have yet to uncover. Come. It’s clear you are not ready to discuss your latest journey so let’s go see how Glass is doing.”

Steve hesitated for a moment before following down the hall and out a set of back doors. A short walk lead him to where you and Logan were standing with a group of middle school-aged children. As he got closer, he could hear the lesson you were helping to give.

“Teamwork is essential if you wish to join the team once you are old enough. If you can’t put aside any petty differences you’ve had with your classmates while on the field, then you put yourself and your team in danger.” You were standing next to a table of wooden dowels stacked in a pile. One began to rise from the table as you talked. “It’s important to get to the point where you won’t even need words for the one you will be paired with.”

Logan was standing off to the side, still part of the group but clearly meant to be at a safe distance. 

“You need to be able to anticipate what your partner will need. Or how to warn them.” As to demonstrate, you merely glanced at Logan before the dowel went shooting for his head! 

Logan didn’t even flinch as his fist came up and the metal claws coming out of his knuckles tore through the dowel, leaving it in pieces at his feet.

Turning your back towards Logan, you continued to address the class. “You must always be aware of your surroundings. Know what your powers can do and find a way to use them if someone were to sneak up on you.”

Steve was so focused on you, he didn’t even notice Logan silently racing up behind you with all of his claws out. Before he could utter a word of warning, Logan sprang into the air. And then proceeded to hang there.

You turned and smiled up at Logan. “Doing so can mean the difference between life and death.”

Raising a hand, you slowly lowered Logan back to the ground.

“Any questions?”

The kids’ hands immediately shot up and Steve hung back as he watched you and Logan answer each one patiently. Once the last kid had run off, he walked over. 

“Very impressive.”

Your face light up. “Hey Cap! Didn’t think I’d see you again so soon. And thanks. I always love coming here and giving a lesson or two. Brings back good memories.”

“I keep telling you to stay,” Logan voice gruffly.

You smirked at him. “I know. But it’s not like I’m sitting around on my butt at SHIELD. Those aliens just won’t fight themselves, you know.”

He ruffled your hair. “Whatever you say, bub. I’ll see you next time.”

“Yeah, see you, Logan.” You turned back to Steve. “So what brings you to the mansion?”

Steve was looking after Logan before turning back to you. You weren’t sure - mainly because you didn’t want to have to read his mind to know - but it almost looked like Steve didn’t like Logan around you. As if he was afraid the Wolverine would hurt you.

“Hey, Earth to Rogers! You there?”

Steve jumped. “Oh, uh yeah. Sorry. Guess I was lost in thought. I came to check on you and was just talking to the professor.”

You looked over at Xavier and he gave you a knowing look. He had told Steve about your glass wall. You didn’t know whether to feel relieved or annoyed. Perhaps both.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to speak with Colossus. He was worried about not having enough room for the upcoming year.”

It was a flimsy excuse, but you let him have his exit focusing on Steve instead. “So you came to check on me? Usually, that’s Thing 1 and Thing 2’s job. Thank you.”

Steve blushed as you began to lead him on a walk around the mansion’s gardens. “It was the least I could do. You did so much to help us win that fight.”

“Oh, the two can’t even compare. You would have won the fight even without me. But to come into a building full of kids still trying to learn how to control their powers is no small feat. I want to thank you for that.”

Steve blushed again. “There’s no need for that. Really.”

You stopped by a lake and looked him over. There was something you could give him. Something that you knew would mean the world to him. It was also something that could get you in trouble if you gave it to Steve before you had Fury’s permission to do so. But Steve coming here - on his own - proved to you that he would be a valuable partner and friend. You needed to return the favor, consequences be damned.

“Ok, then how about I give you something instead, Steve. Something from home.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “From home?”

“From your past.”


	5. Lies and Spies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cap wakes up to the ugly truth of the modern world.

“He’s gonna be so pissed. You know that right?” You were draped across an office chair, one leg over an armrest, one leg dangling off with your foot on the floor, your back against the other armrest. It drove Fury nuts to see you so casual in his office. You, of course, knew it and took advantage each time you dropped by.

“Excuse me, Agent ______? This coming from the woman who told him about-”

“That was nearly two years ago, Fury. Are you still hung up over that? Or is Agent 13 making you hung up over it?”

Fury leveled a one-eyed glare at you. “It wasn’t your place to tell him.”

“He needed it, Fury. You and I both know it. Unlike what you have parked down the hall from his apartment. What do you think he’ll do once he finds out his neighbor is-”

“Not another word, Agent. Unless you’d like to be assigned as Stark’s personal babysitter for a month.”

You scowled at Fury just as Steve burst through the door to the office. “You just can’t stop yourself from lying, can you?”

“Told you.” Fury scowled back at your smirk.

He turned his attention back to Rogers. “I didn’t lie. Agent Romanov had a different mission from yours.”

“Which you didn’t feel obliged to share.” Steve marched until he was in front of Fury’s desk, not once sparing you a glance. You didn’t take it personally: his thoughts were solely on the mission he just came back from.

“I’m not obliged to do anything.”

“Those hostages could have died, Nick.” You raised an eyebrow at that. Not even you called Fury, Nick.

Fury turned in his chair to face Steve in the eyes. “I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn’t happen.”

“Soldiers trust each other. That’s what makes it an army. Not a bunch of guys running around shooting guns.”

“Bold of you to call us an army, Rogers.” You snickered from your chair. “We’re a spy agency. Trust is rarely given.”

Fury now stood up from his chair. “And the last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye.”

You hadn’t meant to look; you always did your best to respect people’s privacy. But Fury’s thoughts in regards to his own eye were far too loud to ignore. Both men broke off from their intense stare down to turn and watch you roll off the chair onto the floor as your body became consumed with laughter.

“Oh my fucking god! Are you for real, Fury?! Please tell me it’s all a lie!” You were gasping for air, you were laughing so hard.

“Agent ____, that is enough!” He came from around the desk to stand in front of you. Instincts kicked in and you instantly disappeared from view. “Goddamnit!”

Steve could hear you frantically get to your feet, but then the noise quickly came to a stop. Even your hysterical laughter had managed to come to an end. He spun around, trying to use his supersoldier hearing to pinpoint your location. It was very faint, but he caught you trying to slow down your breathing towards the back of the room.

“Glass, goddamnit,” Fury cursed. “If you so much as breathe a word of what you heard to Romanov or Barton, that threat I issued earlier will be for six months!”

Steve took a cautious step in the direction he was sure you were in. Suddenly, your giggle came from the other direction. Both men looked over to see you now visible and by the office door.

“Totally worth it, Fury. Tell Stark I’ll see him in a few days!” With that, you disappeared again and ran out the door.

You raced down the hall, dodging people in your invisible form until you came across an open stairwell. Not even bothering to pause in your actions, you grabbed the railing and lept over. You reached out with your powers and your descent began to slow little by little until you stopped a foot above the ground. Every time you did this, you were getting better with your reaction times. Soon you’d be able to use your powers to fly and that would be immensely helpful during the next big mission.

Before you could practice landing softly, voices could be heard coming down the hall. You willed your powers to keep you up and even elevated yourself up a flight so you could hang on to the railing. Below you, Rumlow and a fellow Strike Team member were walking by.

“Keep your damn voice down!” Scolded Rumlow. “You know we have an agent that turns invisible.”

“At least she can’t read minds.”

“That we know of. Leave it to Fury to hid the important details. Now is everything set?”

“Yes, the asset is in place for the assignment. I was made to check several times.” The men paused below where you were hiding. “Why don’t you just get Glass on our side?”

“Please. Everyone can see she’s like a little puppy following Cap around. Couldn’t be any more obvious with her crush. Besides, the last thing we need is Romanov on our asses.”

“And you’re telling me you can turn her against him? I’ve seen you check out her ass when she’s visible and everyone knows girls love a bad boy. They eat that shit up.”

Rumlow chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it couldn’t hurt. Could at least get one good lay outta her. It’ll be more than she’ll ever get out of that stiff. Alright, head to the location and I’ll meet up with you later. I’m gonna see if I can’t find Glass first.”

The second guy left Rumlow alone and you knew you had thirty seconds tops before your communicator would go off, giving away your location. You reached up with your powers to the railing right above you and flipped onto that landing before breaking out into a sprint down the hall. The destination didn’t matter, you just had to be as far away from Rumlow when he dinged your communicator.

This was not good. Rumlow was clearly up to something dirty.

You barely burst through the door to the women’s restroom when your communicator on your wrist went off. Before you answered you calmed your breathing. “Glass.”

“Hey there, Glass.”

“Hey, Rumlow. What’s up? New mission?” You were still invisible so you quickly made your way over to the nearest air vent.

“Nah, nothing on the docket yet. So that made me curious to know if you were free tonight? I know this great little place in Northeast where we can grab a drink.”

You paused in your actions, now contemplating his offer. Rumlow wasn’t your type. Not by a long shot. But this could be a way to find out what he was talking about earlier. Though…..

“That sounds great, Rumlow, but I’m afraid Fury grounded me. I have to head to the Avengers’ Tower tonight.”

Rumlow chuckled. “Grounded? For what? Did you laugh at Fury?”

“Actually, that’s exactly what happened. I accidentally overheard an embarrassing secret of his and now I have to go babysit Stark.”

“Oh? And what’s this secret?”

“Sorry, if I tell anyone he’ll double my prison sentence. Listen, once I get settled into the tower I’ll give you a call on that raincheck.”

His smirk could be heard through the communicator. “I’ll hold you to it. Don’t let that billionaire have all the fun.”

You tried not to gag. “Never. I’ll talk to you soon.”

And before he could respond, you hung up and finished crawling up into the air vent, pulling the gate closed behind you with your powers. Part of you knows you should have gone out with Rumlow to find out what the hell was going on. But the fact that you, Fury, Nat, and Clint were the only agents in SHIELD that knew you could read minds was clearly a reason on Fury’s part. You had to play this close to the vest and find out the information in a less obvious way.

After a few moments of crawling, you came to your destination. After what almost happened at the stairwell, you decided to practice a little caution and reached into the room with your mind. When you were sure the coast was clear, you popped open the gate and hopped down.

Clint startled from his nap on a couch in the breakroom. He stared tiredly around the room looking for a source to the noise. “Glass?”

You shimmered into view. “Clint, we need to talk.”

He looked at his watch. “Sorry, kid. It’ll have to wait. I’m late to meet Nat. Fury’s debriefing us for a mission.”

“But this is about Rumlow!”

Clint scowled. “Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of dating him. I know Cap may not share your feelings, but he’s still trying to get used to the new world.”

You snapped your head back. “What fresh hell are you talking about? I don’t have feelings for Cap! And this isn’t about me wanting to date Rumlow. Which, ew!”

Clint yawned as he nodded his head. “Good. Listen, I really need to get going or Nat’s gonna kill me. I promise it’s only for a couple of hours and then we’ll talk.”

“But-” You didn’t even finish before Clint was out the door.

Feelings for Cap? First Rumlow and now Clint. Sure, Steve was a good looking guy and a sweetheart, but that didn’t mean you were fawning all over him. Not like another agent in SHIELD.

Thinking of Cap did remind you that there was one person who would always take time to listen to you: and that was Steve himself. You tried to pinpoint his location, but you soon found out he had left the facility for the day. There were only two places you could guess where he was.

You went to the first location - the Smithsonian - and beelined to the Captain America exhibit. You made yourself invisible again so you could weave through the crowds faster. Soon you found him in the Howling Commandos section, right in front of Bucky’s display.

“Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country.” The narrator over the speakers gave its daily speech.

“Come to check on me, Glass?”

You moved to stand next to Steve and shimmered into view. “You know me so well now?”

“As well as you know me, apparently.” He smiled over at you.

“Well, you know what they say. People get predictable in their old age.”

Steve snorted at this. “First Romanov and now you. I’m 95, I’m not dead.”

“You look damn good for 95, Cap.” You could see his face go slightly pink. “So what’s going on here, Rogers? I thought we agreed to talk to each other instead of moping around.”

“You’re one to talk. I recognize that look on your face. Rumlow?”

A scowl crossed your face. “In more ways than one.”

He nodded his head. “Did you drive over?”

“Not exactly…..”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Ok. Well, let’s get out of here. I’ll give you a ride.”

Once outside, he spoke more freely.

“So you were testing your powers again?”

“Yeah. I can actually get three feet above the ground now. Not practical for long distances, but it’s getting there.”

“Practical enough to escape Rumlow.” You stopped in your tracks. “What? What happened?”

You quickly recapped everything, omitting the part where everyone was claiming you had a crush on Steve. “I can’t prove it, but I know something’s up.”

He nodded his head as he climbed onto his bike. “You may be right. Should we tell Fury?”

“Not until I have more evidence.”

“So what do we do now?”

“We go visit that gift I gave you.” Placing a hand on his shoulder, you swung a leg over the bike to sit behind him. “You look like you could use some cheering up, Rogers.”

“Anything you want, Glass.”

A short ride later and you were sitting out in the hall of a hospice waiting for Rogers to finish his visit.

Two years ago you gave him the only thing you could think of as a thank you: Peggy Carter.

Fury had wanted to wait to see what Steve Rogers was all about. To wait until the super-soldier was fully on SHIELD’s side. But you weren’t so stingy. You knew giving Rogers a person from him past - a person still alive - would get him more on your side than any mere words possibly could. And you had been right. After that first visit, Rogers became a close, trusted friend.

Clacking of heels pulled you out of your thoughts and you looked up to see Agent 13 coming down the hall.

She was a damn good agent, but she still got under your skin. Maybe by the way she seemed to undress Steve with her eyes even though the man was literally in love with someone else.

“You can’t go in there.”

She stopped and seemed to notice you for the first time. “Oh hey, Glass. Is he in there with her?”

“Yeah, he needed cheering up. Give it twenty more minutes and then you can have your visit.”

Agent 13 nodded her head. “Oh, Rumlow said to remind you to call him once you get to the tower.”

You rolled your eyes. “Joy. Thanks.”

She turned and walked back down the hall. And true to as you knew him, twenty minutes later Steve came out of the room.

“Thanks for that, Glass. Where to next?”

“Stark Tower. I have a prison sentence to serve.”


	6. The Winter Soldier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SHIELD is compromised and Glass is given a mission.

“Stark,” you sighed for the fifth time that hour, “are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Why are you giving me that look? You know I’m right.”

“And it’s frustrating as hell.” It was literally your first night at the Avenger’s Tower and Stark had wasted no time in driving you nuts. 

“Listen, do you want to be able to fly or not? ‘Cause if you keep going the way you are, you’ll never be able to catch the bad guy with that form.”

“Bad guy?”

“Just humor me.”

You fought off the urge to sigh - again - and made your way over to where Tony stood. The two of you had become surprising friends after the whole attack in New York. When Rhodey came to you explaining Tony’s PTSD symptoms and the incident with the Mandarin (or rather, pseudo-Mandarin), you wasted no time in bringing him to Xavier for his own round of therapy. Soon, it was like a mini family: you, Stark, Pepper, Rhodey, and Stark’s bodyguard/friend Happy. It was nice having another one outside of SHIELD. One that had a bit more of a relaxed atmosphere.

Except for now. When Tony found out you were trying to control your powers to fly, he decided to take you under his wing. You pointed out he wasn’t a mutant, and he reminded you he flew in his suit all the time. He had you there.

“Now the one thing no one thinks of when it comes to flying, is how much muscle strength you need. Especially in your core. If your core is weak, you’ll never be able to make those last-minute turns, stops, or landings. And that’s the easiest way to hurt yourself.”

He began to lead you through several gymnastic moves and stretches until you felt you couldn’t even stand. You weren’t out of shape: you were a SHIELD agent. Running, train fighting with Nat, target practice with Clint, and real no holds bar fighting with Cap using your powers were a daily thing. But this was something different and exhausting.

“Gods my stomach hurts!”

“No, just your abs.” You threw a towel at Tony. “But you did good, Kid. With more practice, you’ll hurt less and less and have more and more control.”

You were about to concede and agree with Tony when your phone went off. Maria Hill was instantly on your screen. “Yes, Deputy Director Hill?”

“We need you in D.C. stat! I’m sending you the coordinates.”

Your eyebrows furrowed, “but Fury said-”

“Now Agent ____!”

“Yes, ma’am.” Hanging up your phone, you turned towards Tony. “Looks like you’ll need another babysitter, Stark. My boss needs me back.”   


Tony had noticed Maria’s frantic tone but managed to remain calm. “Never seen Hill lose it like that. Not even when the Hulk was tearing apart the Helicarrier. How do you plan to get back?”

“Fly, of course!” You rolled your eyes. “Rogers dropped me off so it’s not like I have a car here.”

“Not happening. You’re not ready to fly all the way to DC. Take one of my cars. It’s faster and you won’t have to worry about accidentally falling out of the sky.”

“That’s not how….” you sighed. “Fine, fine. It’s not like I have time to argue with you.” 

You followed him out of the gym towards the elevator. In the base level of the tower was a large garage that was half-filled with employee cars and the other half was all Tony’s. He leads you over to a corvette. 

“Now with your magical powers, I expect this baby to come back to me scratch-free.” 

This time you didn’t hold back. “That’s not how this works, Stark. But she will come back in one piece. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way back.”

“No rush. I still have Pepper.” You noticed a change in his tone but he shook his head at you. “Nope. We’ll talk later. Get the hell out of here before Hill comes over and kicks my ass.”

You thanked him again before racing off. On the way, Hill sent you the location to meet her. It was troubling that you were heading to a hospital. You could only hope no one was seriously injured on a mission.

As you drove through DC to get to the hospital, you notice heavier than normal traffic. Especially for that time of night. Finally, it was too clogged and you were forced to pull over into a parking garage. Stark would just have to deal with you leaving his baby behind. 

Outside the garage, you shimmered out of view and levitated off the ground enough so you wouldn’t accidentally hit anyone below. No longer bound by traffic, you quickly made your way to the hospital. As you flew, you noticed emergency crew cleaning up what looked to be several car accidents. Major ones. And was that a flipped over SUV?! What the fuck happened?!

At the hospital, you landed at the entrance just as Nat was racing up. You shimmered back into view, actually startling her for once.

“Glass?! What the hell?!”

“Hill called me. Raced over from the tower. What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain on the way up.” You hurried after Nat as you shot through the hospital, weaving around patients and doctors. “Fury’s up in surgery. He was shot in Steve’s apartment.”

You did a double-take. “What was he doing there?”

“Not a fucking clue. But all those accidents you might have seen?” You nodded. “Nick was involved in that. His SUV was flipped.”

“How?!”

“I have a guess, but I need to get verification first.”

You both burst into a room to find Steve and Maria standing next to a large window looking into an operating room. Maria looked worried while Rogers was trying to hide his confusion behind a mask of anger.

“Is he gonna make it?” Nat broke the silence as she moved to stand next to him.

“I don’t know,” was all Steve could offer.

You moved to stand between Nat and Maria, placing a hand on the glass as you looked helplessly at Nick Fury, one of the toughest people you knew lying on an operating table.

Nat continued. “Tell me about the shooter.”

Steve sighed, “he’s fast. Strong. Has a metal arm.”

You noticed Nat looking over. Before you could chime in, a voice interrupted your thoughts.

_ Glass _

Your mouth dropped open slightly and you looked back towards the operating room. Was that….

_ Glass _

It was. Fury was reaching out to you. Since he couldn’t speak out loud, it would make sense for him to try to reach the one person who could still hear him.

Now more than ever you were grateful for the training Xavier gave you. Taking a deep breath, you blocked out everyone else. Nat and Steve’s conversation became white noise, the doctors in the next room were like a silent movie in front of your eyes, even the hum of the air conditioner ceased to exist. 

You pushed your mind out until you were able to touch Fury in his mind.

_ I’m here, Director Fury. _

_ SHIELD has been compromised. It’s time. _

You shook your head, catching Maria’s attention.  _ No, I can’t do this. Not without you. _

_ You can and you will, Agent _____. This is what we have been preparing for. What Coulson helped prepare you for. _

“Nick, I can’t,” the words came out softly but all three turned towards you.

“What is it, Glass? What’s Nick telling you?!” Nat demanded.

_ You need to do this. There is no one else. You know who to stick to. _

Tears were now falling down your face and Steve reached over for your hand that wasn’t on the window. Only for you to pull away and slap both palms against the glass, startling the doctors. 

“NO!”

_ This is an order, Glass. _

Suddenly the doctors began to look at the heart monitor.

“Don’t do this to me, Nick.” Nat’s attention now back on the director. Steve was still focused on you.

“Please, Nick,” you sobbed. “We need you.”

_ Agent ____, you have been given your orders. _

_ No, Nick! _

_ I’m not asking you. I’m telling you. _

_ Please! _

_ In case of emergency…. _

You shook your head, refusing to answer.

_ IN CASE OF EMERGENCY….. _

Sighing, you gave in. “Break glass.”

The only response you were given was the sound of Fury’s heart monitor flatlining.


	7. The Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glass flies under the radar.

In case of emergency, break glass.

The words were very simple, seen on the cases of fire extinguishers and fire alarms all over the city.

So when Coulson had said these words would set off the mission, you had raised an eyebrow but remained silent for him to explain. You knew it wasn’t a jab at your nickname, but you couldn’t help but see the irony. In the end, it had made sense. If anyone had overheard Coulson or Fury mention those words, they would assume they were being cryptic as always but not setting off a major chain of events. Ones that would solely be in your hands.

You had always assumed when this time came, Coulson and Fury would be there to touch base. But Loki had killed Coulson and now some assassin called the Winter Soldier had killed Fury. And as far as you knew, Maria, Nat, and Steve were not told of the mission. Sure, you could scan their thoughts real quick, but the sooner you got away from them, the sooner you could begin your mission. One you weren’t looking forward to.

Getting out of the hospital had been harder than you had anticipated. 

As soon as the curtain to the operating room had been pulled closed, Nat rounded on you.

“What was Nick telling you?!”

You looked down and shook your head. 

“Glass, you need to tell us now.” Maria chimed up behind you.

Taking a ragged breath, you looked into Nat’s eyes ...and disappeared from view.

“Dammit! Don’t think you can get out of this that easily.” Nat lunged for you but you ducked and rolled under her grasp. 

Steve reached for you as well - his hearing better than Nat’s - and managed to grab your arm. “Glass, just talk to us.”

“Sorry, guys. I have my orders.” Because he couldn’t see you exactly, you wasted no time in spinning around, wrapping your legs around his neck, and then flipping him to the ground. You used your powers to soften his fall. The impact caused him to let go and you bolted out of the room.

You remained invisible as you raced down the hall, past orderlies and doctors, almost running into the Strike Team. Rumlow barely missed brushing against your arm as they stalked by. They were part of your mission, but that would have to wait. There were a few more important things to handle first.

Outside, you raced back to the parking garage all the while wondering what you would say to Tony. In the end, it didn’t matter. Not if Fury was right.

At the car, you took off your SHIELD assigned watch, ear comm, and phone and placed them inside the car. Closing the door, you pulled out a disposable phone Fury had made you buy when creating this mission. Only 2 people had this number and both were now dead. 

You walked to the other side of the parking garage and up three flights of stairs before you called Stark. “Hey, listen I can’t bring the car back. But I’ll tell you where you can find it.”

“Glass? What number are you calling from? And what do you mean you can’t bring my car back?!”

“I can’t talk about it. The less you know the safer it will be for you and Pepper. I’ll reach out soon.”

And before he could reply, you hung up the phone. Once back at the car, you took out all your SHIELD issued tech, texted Tony where he could find his car from the throw-away phone, then went to the roof of the garage. You removed any SIM cards you could find and then held all the tech - including the disposable phone - out in your open hands. You concentrated as the items floated in the air before you until they were eye level. Slowly, you began to close your empty hands, gritting your teeth. The items began to crush before your eyes. The SIM cards popped like tiny popcorn, the phone screens cracking loudly, the earpiece pressing to the thickness of a quarter. Once it was to your satisfaction, you placed them in a nearby garbage can, pulled out a book of matches Fury also made you carry and lit one of the matches. You then used that match to set the whole book on fire and tossed it into the can. Next step? Finding a change of clothes.

After visiting the nearest thrift store and changing out everything you wore, you began the long walk to the SHIELD building. The change of clothes was only necessary to shake off any other bugs that may have been planted on you. For this mission you would be invisible a majority of the time, so frankly you could have run around naked. Not practical, but it served to remind you how it hadn’t mattered what you grabbed at the store. Just as long as it didn’t make any noise.

At SHIELD headquarters, you realized you were walking up just as Steve was entering with the Strike Team. You fell in behind them, using your powers to latch onto the person in front of you so you wouldn’t have to swipe your badge to get in. It was a trick Fury had made you practice over and over again with him and Coulson in an abandoned SHIELD safehouse. 

You reached out to each mind. Steve was still worried about you and confused over Fury. Most of the Strike Team was hoping to be recognized by Rumlow for their part in what was to come. And as for Rumlow…..

Your powers acted upon instinct, wrapping itself around your mouth so no one would hear you gasp. Rumlow was with Hydra! That’s what Fury meant when he said SHIELD had been compromised. Rumlow had received instructions from Sitwell to retrieve Rogers. And if Sitwell was Hydra, this was far larger than even Fury could have guessed. 

The group broke off from Steve and you almost followed Rumlow’s group until you heard Steve’s mental question about what Secretary Pierce would want to ask him. He wasn’t going to see Sitwell? There was a pit in your stomach as to what this could mean, so you went against your orders and followed Steve into the elevator. It would be too easy to find Rumlow later.

On Pierce’s floor, you followed quietly behind. Looking around Steve you could see Agent 13 talking to Pierce. She had an embarrassed look on her face as she passed Steve in the hall.

“Captain Rogers.”

“Neighbor,” he replied icily. 

Great, he found out about her. If you live through this the first thing he’ll want to know is if you knew. Goddamnit Fury. Even from beyond the grave he knew how to fuck up your day.

You slipped into the room behind Steve and stayed close to the door as the two men walked over to the desk on the other side. The two men exchanged pleasantries and Secretary Pierce began to tell Steve the story of why Fury had been promoted to Director of SHIELD. As Fury had told you this story already, you tuned him out and reached into his mind. And instantly regretted it.

Pierce wasn’t just Hydra, he was high up on their food chain. And he wasn’t alone. Senator Stern was one as well as half of SHIELD. And he controlled the Winter Soldier. 

When Steve left the office, you stayed behind, too in shock to really move. And it ended up working in your favor. Pierce walked over to his desk, picked up his phone, and hit one button. 

“Bring him back. Whatever the cost.” Then he sat at his desk and waited.

The door to his office was closed so there was nothing you could do but wait with him. Kitty Pryde you were not and going physically through that door wasn’t an option. 

Soon Pierce had his phone on again and to intercom so now you were lucky enough to listen in.

Sitwell’s voice came over first. “_Mobilize Strike units, 25th Floor.” _

You could hear what sounded like fighting over the comms as well as Rumlow’s voice.

“_Whoa, Big Guy. I just want you to know, Cap. This isn’t personal! _”

There was more fighting before Steve responded. “Y_eah? It kinda feels personal.” _

You raced over to the wall of glass that was the nearest to the elevator shaft and began to reach down with your mind. Strike units could be heard moving on the floor towards the elevator, along with Steve’s decision to use his shield to cut the wires on the now broken elevator. Looking out the window, you watched in horror as Steve jumped out of the elevator, down a hundred and fifty feet.

_ He’ll never survive that! _ You thought in horror. And without meaning to, without even trying, you reached out with your powers to slow his fall. It was the farthest and the fastest you had ever used them. Even though you were invisible, you knew your eyes were glowing from the power level. 

You felt Steve hit the ground and even bounce slightly. But he slowly pulled himself to his feet. You had done it! Steve was alive! 

“_Are you kidding me?!” _ Came Sitwell’s disbelief. “_He’s headed for the garage. Lockdown the bridge!” _

Pierce calmly picked up his phone. “And while you’re at it, Strike team. Bring in Glass. I have no doubt she helped Captain Rogers survive that fall. I want her 20. Now!”

You whirled to face Pierce as you watched him put his jacket back on and head for his office door. Time was of the essence and you used your powers to stick to him like glue, getting out of his office easily, finding space in a working elevator with him, and sliding in behind him into the SHIELD control room. You then let go of him and moved off to a corner and then lifted yourself up to the ceiling.

As Secretary Pierce talked, a couple of members of Strike walked around the room with batons that coursed with electricity. They were making sweeping motions for all the empty space, no doubt looking to see if this room was cleared of you. Now you were involved in the world’s stupidest dance. Finally, you just moved to the center of the room.

Agent 13 spoke up. “If SHIELD is conducting a manhunt for Captain America, we deserve to know why.”

“Because he lied to us.” Pierce’s voice boomed. “Captain Rogers has information regarding the death of Director Fury. He refused to share it. And while we are on the subject, we are also on the hunt for Agent ____ _____, AKA Glass. It was reported by the hospital that Glass was very distraught while Fury was being operated on and immediately disappeared from the scene. Quite literally. After fighting Maria Hill and Natasha Romanov on her way out.”

Your jaw dropped at how easily he lied about the way you left the hospital.

“We also have reason to believe she helped Rogers escape SHIELD headquarters. She is known to have telekinesis as well as the ability to turn invisible. She will not be as easy to find.”

Agent 13, as well as half the people, looked a bit uncomfortable. People began to file out and you had no choice but to remain in place as a member of Strike stood at both doors with their batons at the ready. Every time someone walked through the door, they swiped at the air. There was no way out.

Except…..

You suddenly remembered a weird attribute of this room. A secret Barton taught you while you learned how to travel via air vents. And that was sometimes the air vents weren’t a viable option. And when you can’t go high, there was only one other way to travel.

Moving towards the back of the room, you silently dropped next to Specialist Klein. He was a friend, occasionally joining in happy hour with you and Clint. And at this moment you could tell he wasn’t a hundred percent buying what Pierce and Sitwell were trying to sell.

You wrapped your powers around his mouth as you entered his mind. _Don’t freak, Cameron. It’s just me._

His eyes went a little wide. _What the hell is going on, Glass?! You and Captain America fugitives? And you can read minds?!_

_Ok, I’ll get to that last part another time. But no, we aren’t fugitives. Never! But there’s something larger at play. I can’t go into it for your safety._

_You need a way out of the room._

_Perceptive as always. Don’t make it obvious. Just act like you need to shift your chair. I promise to explain this all soon._

_Ok, but you owe me. Like the next happy hour._

_Done._

You released your hold and Cameron coughed as he shifted his chair. The floor panel at his feet then began to lift silent until there was a gap big enough for you to slide in. If you survived this mission, you were taking the longest vacation in SHIELD’s history once this was over.


	8. The Fall of SHIELD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glass and company fight to stop Hydra.

The last twelve hours had been a blur to your poor sleep-deprived brain. You hadn’t left SHIELD headquarters since Pierce put out that order on you and Cap. No doubt Nat was watching Steve’s back, so you had stuck around to put continual wrenches in Hydra’s plans. 

Starting with the helicarriers. 

It hadn’t taken much prodding to discover they were vital to whatever plans Hydra had. Unfortunately, tech wasn’t your forte so disabling them was not going to come easy. You couldn’t rewire any permissions, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t make them grounded. When in doubt, pull out what looks important. Hawkeye had taught you that.

By each major door of the helicarrier was a fail-safe. A way to override the doors to open in case of a power failure. The override, however, did not allow you to close the doors. And the helicarriers couldn’t take off with open doors. So you spent the entire night going to each panel and using your powers to ripe out various wires. Sure, it could be fixed, but hopefully, this would slow them down enough for Steve and Nat to catch up to you.

It didn’t take Hydra long to find your trail of destruction and a team was immediately issued to fix what you had broken. Which lead you to the second part of the mission: the Strike Team.

As word traveled over how the doors were dismantled, members of the Strike Team raced around the building looking for you. And every time they reached a split in the hallway, they split up as well. Until it was just you and a lonely Hydra/Strike agent. Soon, captured agents bound in handcuffs and shoved into storage closets were littering the building more than the destroyed tech.

“I want her found NOW!” Pierce’s voice boomed from the earpiece of an agent you had just subdued. “The council is on their way and I cannot have that freak ruining things!”

Freak, huh? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time someone had used those words to describe you. And it just meant that you were doing everything right. But his other words had caught your attention. If the council was arriving, they may be in on it as well. And what kind of agent would you be if you missed an important meeting?

You planned to simply head to Pierce’s floor and be waiting in the room. His office was too small, so no doubt this would be held in his high tech conference room. 

As you raced across the SHIELD compound, you were startled to a halt by Steve’s voice coming out of the speakers. He’s here?! Hydra would act out of panic now and preempt the launch sequence if they managed to fix what you had done to the helicarriers. At the elevator, you ran past and into the stairwell to fly straight up the middle to Pierce’s floor. If you could get to him before the helicarriers left the facility, you had a good chance of stopping whatever Hydra had planned.

On Pierce’s floor, you slid in behind a couple of Strike members as they entered the conference room and watched them hold guns on the council members. Well, that made what to do in here more complicated. You were glad the council wasn’t Hydra, but now you had to ensure their safety. Moving quietly, you positioned yourself behind Pierce and got ready to take him down. But he began to walk around the room talking to the council members, offering one a glass of champagne.

“Let me ask you a question.” You tuned out his pompous excuse and prepared to close in on him again. 

The council member threw his champagne glass to the side and Pierce grabbed a gun. Before he could fire, another council member kicked him out of the line of fire, grabbed Pierce’s arm and jabbed him in the face, and then proceeded to take down the two Strike members. You didn’t need to read her mind to know who had beaten you to the punch.

“I’m sorry,” Nat began to pull away her disguise as she held a gun on Pierce. “Did I step on your moment?”

You saw a flash in Pierce’s mind and instantly acted. A council member yelped in surprise as the badge he was told would give him full access to the facility was ripped off his jacket, as well as Nat’s and the other two council members. They remained floating in the air as they were crushed by an invisible hand. 

“Well, well, well. I was wondering when you would show your face. Figuratively, of course.” Pierce slowly turned around looking for you.

You plucked the cell phone from his hand as you shimmered into view. “Someone had to insure you would fight fair, at the very least. Got to hand it to you,” you waved his phone in your hand, “pretty clever, disguising weapons as security badges. Glad to see you finally joined the party, Nat.”

She smirked at you as she walked over to the computer and began to furiously type. “Would have joined it sooner if you had just told me your plans.”

“You think I would have disobeyed Fury even on his deathbed?”

“Speaking of which, once my backup arrives you’ll need to go take care of the rest of Strike Team. We have the helicarriers covered. Though thanks for trying to buy us some time.”

“Who’s your back up?”

“You’ll see.”

Before you turned to go, you had one last question for her. “What are you doing?”

Pierce was the one to answer you. “She’s disabling security protocols and dumping all the secrets onto the internet.”

“Including Hydra’s.” She chimed in.

“And SHIELD’s.” Nat barely glanced at him. “If you do this, none of your past is gonna remain hidden. As well as yours, Glass. Are you sure you’re ready for the World to see you as you really are?”

“Are you?” Nat retorted as calmly.

He glanced at you and you shrugged. “People already know I’m a mutant that can turn invisible and lift things with my mind. Now they’ll know I’m like Xavier in the reading of minds as well. Want me to tell you what you’re thinking?”

Pierce ignored you and turned back to Nat. “Disabling the encryption is an executive order. It takes two Alpha level members.”

“Don’t worry. Company’s coming.”

You turned at the sound of a helicopter landing on the outside landing pad and your jaw dropped in shock as you watched Fury stroll into the conference room. He survived?!

There was an awkward beat of silence as Pierce and Fury sized each other up before the former spoke up. “Did you get my flowers?”

Fury turned towards you. “I just heard on the radio that Rumlow is on his way up here to stop us.”

You smirked at him. “Well, I do owe that man a one-on-one. You’ll have to fill me in on the death faking later.”

Fury watched you shimmer out of view with a faint smile. The council watched the door opened and closed by itself as you raced back to the stairwell. You reached level 41 when you heard Rumlow speak into his radio.

“I’m on level 41, heading for the stairwell.” This was followed by a few grunts.

You raced down the hall to find Rumlow fighting someone you didn’t recognize. He headbutted the guy and then began to remove his tactical vest. 

“This is gonna hurt. There are no prisoners with Hydra Just order. And order only comes through pain. You ready for yours?”

The guy slowly got to his feet. “Man shut the hell up.”

Whoever this guy was, you liked him already. Rumlow raced over to start the fight but was instantly pulled off his feet. 

“FUCK YOU, GLASS!”

“You wish, Rumlow.” Came your disembodied voice.

“What the fuck?!” The other man looked around for you.

You tossed Rumlow across the room, into a desk, and appeared before the man’s eyes. “Hey, I’m Glass and I’m guessing you’re not Hydra.”

“Hell no. I’m a friend of Cap’s. Name’s Sam.”

“Nice to meet you, Sam.” You nodded towards Rumlow who was picking himself out of the pile of wood and metal. “Ready to kick his ass?”

“Don’t have to ask me twice.”

You both raced to meet Rumlow across the room, occasionally using your powers but was getting more satisfaction from actually hitting him yourself. Rumlow didn’t hold back on attacking either of you.

He tossed you into Sam and stood up on a desk, watching you both slide across the floor. “What a shame, Glass. We would have been so good together.”

“There is not enough liquor and therapy to get that mental image out of my head.” You quipped. Sam tugged on your arm and you noticed what he saw. Right behind Rumlow, one of the helicarriers was about to crash into the building. “Sam, I know this is really sudden, but do you trust me?”

“If it means living, hell yes I do.”

You leaped off the ground and grabbed Sam’s arm. Both of you raced towards the wall of windows as you heard the helicarrier crash into the other side.

“Son of a bitch!” Came Rumlow’s surprise and he tried to keep up with you.

“Please tell me you got that chopper in the air!” Sam cried out.

“Sam, where are you?!” Nat’s voice called over the radio.

“We’re on the 41st floor! Northwest corner!”

“Stay right there! We’re coming to you!”   


“Not an option!”

You grabbed Sam’s hand and flung your free one at the glass wall, your powers shattering it. “Hang on to me!”

Both of you leaped out of the building and you used your powers to guide you into the waiting helicopter below.

“41st floor! 41st!” Sam cried out.

“It’s not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building,” Fury snarked back. “Not to mention, you clearly had help.”

“Fuck you, Fury,” you breathed out, still trying to catch your breath from running for your life. “How dare you make me think you were dead.”

That made Fury chuckled and despite your anger, you gave a small chuckle back. “It worked didn’t it?”

“Fuck you,” was all you said. “Can we please find Rogers and get the hell out of here?”

“Hill,” Nat called out, “do you have a 20 on Steve?”

Maria didn’t have an answer so you reached out to find his mind. And what you found broke your heart….. and cracked your glass. Before anyone could stop you, the seat harness was off and you jumped from the helicopter. 

“Glass, what the fuck?!” Fury called out after you.

You landed softly by the lake and found Steve lying there, broken and wet.

_ Crack _


	9. Ain't No Party Like A Tony Stark Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers celebrate the fall of Hydra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be looooooonnnnnggggg

“So that was never in my file at all?”

Nat smirked as she put the finishing touches of her makeup on in your bathroom. “Nope. Pierce just bluffed to see what you would admit. If he had known you could read minds all of Hydra would have known.”

“Which would have made D.C. a thousand times harder.” You smoothed a hand over your black dress. “How’s Birdbrain doing?”

“His wound is all healed up like he was never hit. Dr. Cho is a miracle worker.”

“Sorry I wasn’t with you guys to help.”

“Nonsense. Xavier needed your help with the Brotherhood. More up your alley.” 

“Except not really. Those two you met on the field-”

“The ‘Enhanced’,” you could hear Nat’s invisible air quotes.

“No, Rogers is enhanced. These two….they’re mutates."

Nat was about to put in her earrings, but slowly lowered her hand at your tone. “Hill said they’re enhanced.”

“Sure, to someone not from my world. But like I said, it’s rare to have the X-Gene triggered later in life, but it can still happen. Strucker conducted experiments on these two with the exact same factor: Loki’s staff. There is absolutely no reason why they would have different powers. The stress of the experiments over and over woke up the dormant gene. I’ve seen it once before.”

“With Wade.” You nodded and Nat sighed. “So what do we do?”

“For now? Enjoy Stark’s hospitality. Afterward, I’ll go to Xavier and see what kind of a plan we can come up with.” 

“Speaking of the party…” Nat had a look of a cat that ate the canary.

“And this is my cue to head upstairs!” But she snagged your arm before you could even make it out the door.

“Uh uh! I need to know, are you finally going to talk to Steve?”

“I regret everything I ever told you. No more drunken truth or dare with you and Birdbrain.”

“Oh please! It’s so obvious you have feelings for him, the only difference is now you’ve admitted it to yourself.”

You sighed. “Thanks to you pushing him towards Agent 13, why should I even bother?”

“Ok, in my defense, I only did that because I didn’t think you would ever be honest with yourself. Also, her name is Sharon.” You two took the elevator up to the common room where the party was being held in the Avengers Tower. 

After the fall of SHIELD/Hydra, you had taken up Tony’s offer to live in the tower, with each Avenger having their own floor. Banner was the only other Avenger to take advantage of this. Nat was toying with the idea, Hawkeye had his own reasons to say no, and Steve was still trying to make Brooklyn work. 

“Literally doesn’t make it any better. And I’m aware of her name.” 

“Who’s name?” Came a familiar and smooth voice, followed by an arm linking through yours.

“The Angel of Death. Turns out she’s sick of your shit, Stark.”

“That’s impossible! Everyone loves me.” He gave you one of his signature smirks. “So is tonight the night you finally make a move on Cap?”

Your jaw dropped and you whipped your head to glare at Nat. “What?!”

“Don’t blame Widow, you forget who I am. I can always tell when two people are into each other.”

“Ugh, I need a drink.” You pulled away from both of them and made your way over to the bar. After pouring yourself a stiff drink, you began to make the rounds. 

The party was in full swing. Thor was talking to some war veterans, Clint was talking to Dr. Cho, Bruce was awkwardly trying to mingle, Nat had found Rhodey, and Steve was playing pool with Sam. Steve looked up from his shot and caught your eye. You gave him a wink before wandering off to talk to Maria over with some former SHIELD agents. 

Sam watched Steve follow you with his eyes. When he turned back, he jumped at Sam’s eyes, boring into him. “Are you ever gonna get your act together and ask her out? You know, before Thor beats you to it?”

Steve whirled around to look at you and Sam began to laugh his ass off.

“Made you look!”

Steve glared at him and left for the bar, Sam on his heels. “It’s not like that for Glass and I. We’re just friends.”

“Uh-huh. That’s why you look like some sort of lovesick puppy when she’s around?” Steve gritted his teeth. “Fine, we’ll come back to this later.”

You wandered and mingled some more, catching the last act of Thor giving some of his Asgardian liquor to Cap and a very insistent war vet, who was dragged away by two bartenders shortly afterward.

“Excelsior!” He slurred as he was dragged past you.

“What in the world did you boys do to that poor man?”

Steve held up his hands in surrender. “Hey, he asked for some.”

You rolled your eyes good-naturedly at him. “If you say so, Steve.”

He cleared his throat as you were about to walk away. “You, uh, you look good tonight, Glass. I really like that dress.”

You smiled and used your powers to become the same height as him so you could plant a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks, Rogers. You look very handsome yourself tonight.”

The night finally wound down as guests slowly made their way out the door. Sam swung by for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “So any idea when you’ll finally make a move on my boy? I need to know if I’m gonna win the pool.”

“Oh my god, Sam. Get out of here!” You laughed as you gave him a playful shove.

“All I’m saying is you two would look cute together!” 

You chucked a pillow at him and he easily dodged it. “Leave before I use my powers on the next one.”

Soon all that was left was the Avengers, Rhodey, Maria, and Dr. Cho. You all picked seats around a coffee table as Stark laid out the Chinese take-out he had ordered. Clint and Maria were sitting on the floor in front of one couch, Banner on that couch talking to Nat sitting diagonally from him, you were in between Thor and Steve on a couch across from them, while Tony and Rhodey sat on a third in the middle. Dr. Cho was off in one of the lounge chairs nearby.

Clint began to twirl one of the chopsticks in his hand. “It’s a trick!”

You looked over and could see Clint’s eyes glued to Thor’s hammer. Thor laughed. “No, no, it’s much more than that.”

Clint switched to a fake regal voice. “Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power.” You giggled. “Whatever, man! It’s a trick.”

Thor gestured with a hand holding a beer, laughing. “Well please be my guest.”

“Come on. Really?”

“Yeah,” Tony chimed in.

Rhodey smiled. “Oh, this is going to be beautiful.”

Tony spoke up again as Clint rose to his feet and walked over to Mjolnir. “Clint, you’ve had a tough week. We won’t hold it against you if you can’t get it up.”

“Hey, phrasing!” You giggled.

Clint locked eyes with Thor, “you know I’ve seen this before, right?”

He grabbed the hammer and grunted, but nothing moved.

Clint laughed. “I still don’t know how you do it!”

“Smell the silent judgment?”

“Please, Stark,” Clint gestured at the man, “by all means.”

Tony stood up and undid the button on his jacket. “Never one to shrink from an honest challenge. It’s physics.”

“Oh, physics,” Banner commented.

Tony slipped his hand through the handle on the hammer. “Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?”

“Of course,” Thor answered.

“I will be reinstituting prima nocta.”

“You would, Stark,” you quipped up at him.

Tony lifted….and nothing happened. “Ok. Be right back.”

Next thing you knew, Tony was trying with an Iron Man gauntlet on and then he and Rhodey tried.

“Are you even pulling?” Rhodey questioned.

“Are you on my team?” Tony sassed back.

“Just represent. Pull!”

Banner gave it a try, making a joke that the Hulk might burst out. Which no one laughed at. Then Steve got up to try. He winked at you as he walked by.

“Go Steve. No pressure.” Tony reassured.

“C’mon Cap!” Cheered Clint.

“You can do it, Steve!” You added.

Steve wrapped his hand around the hammer and his thoughts were so loud you almost dropped your drink. He could lift it! 

The hammer gave a small squeak against the table and then Steve stopped. You could then read he was worried about how Thor would take it if he could lift the hammer, so he gave up instead. At that moment, your feelings for him became stronger.

Banner looked over at Nat. “Widow?”

“Oh no, that’s not a question I need answered. What about you, Glass?”

All eyes fell on you and you shrugged your shoulders. “What the hell? Why not?”

You got up from the couch and walked until you were in front of the hammer. Suddenly, you had a great idea. As your hand wrapped around the hammer, so did your powers. Then you pulled your hand up. 

Mjolnir wasn’t any easier to lift with your powers, but you still got it off the table! The room became painfully quiet as they watched you slowly lift the hammer until it was level with your head.

“You guys made it look so hard.”

“Let go.”

“Huh?” You looked over at Thor.

“Let go, Glass. You need to really hold it to be worthy. Let. Go.” A smile crept across Thor’s face. Crap, he knew what you had done!

“Alright. Here goes.” You forced your powers to let go and you stood there for one second. But then it was like a cartoon. The hammer plummeted to the ground, taking you with it. You instantly let go and your powers kept you from falling face-first into the ground. Everyone around you laughed. “Laugh all you want, it’s still one second longer than the rest of you!”

Steve came over and helped you up. “It was still a good try, Glass.”

Stark scoffed. “All deference to the Man Who Wouldn’t Be King, but it’s rigged.”

“You bet your ass,” Clint spoke up.

Maria gestured at Clint. “Steve, he said a bad language word.”

You burst out laughing as Steve hung his head, sitting back on the couch. “Did you tell everyone about that?”

Tony ignored him. “The handle’s imprinted, right? Like a security code. ‘Whosoever has Thor’s fingerprints’ I believe is the literal translation?”

“Yes. It’s a very, very interesting theory.” Thor got off the couch and lifted the hammer up, tossing it once to show off. “But I have a simpler one: you’re all not worthy.”

A chorus of boos came from the group. Then an ear-piercing noise. 

A scratchy, almost robotic voice entered the room. “Woooorrrthyyyyyy.”

The sound of uneven footsteps followed and everyone turned to face a very broken down Iron Legion bot walking into the room.

“No.” It concluded and turned to face you all. “How could you be worthy? You’re all killers.”

“Stark.” Steve slowly rose to his feet.

“Jarvis.” Tony tapped a tablet in his hand. “We have a faulty legion bot.”

There was no reply from Jarvis.

You slowly moved to stand in front of everyone as the robot continued.

“Sorry, I was asleep. Or was I a dream?”

Tony kept trying to reboot the system as the robot muttered about being a dream and tangled in strings.

“Had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy.” The bot concluded.

“You killed someone?” There was tension in Steve’s voice. You could mentally hear Maria get her gun ready. “Glass?”

“I can’t read robots. Not really.” You placed both hands open by your hips. “Who sent you?”

The robot played a recording of Tony talking about a suit of armor around the world.

“Ultron.” Banner breathed.

“In the flesh,” the robot confirmed. “Well, not yet. Not this chrysalis. But I’m ready. I’m on a mission.”

“What mission?” Nat wanted to know.

“Peace in our time.” And in that moment, more legion bots burst through the walls. 

You automatically threw up your hands and two robots bounced off your invisible wall. One flew over and behind you, Maria dropped to the floor on her back and began to fire her gun. Another robot went for Steve and he kicked the coffee table up as a makeshift shield. The robot crashed into him, sending Steve and the table skidding across the floor. 

Thor began to swing his hammer at anything metallic that moved while you wasted no time in using your powers to rip other robots apart. Chaos reigned as the other Avengers ran for weapons to use.

“Stark!” Someone shouted.

“In a minute!” Tony had found a fondue fork and was now leaping off a loft to tackle a robot in midair. He jammed the fork in and they both crashed to the ground.

“CAP!” Clint shouted, tossing Steve his shield. Steve caught it reflexively and tossed it at the last legion bot.

Ultron surveyed the mess. “Well, that was dramatic.”

“Not dramatic enough,” you responded and you placed your hands together and then violently ripped them apart. Across the room, Ultron was torn in half. 

As he powered down, his voice continued. “There’s only one path to peace. The Avengers' extinction.”

You slowly walked over to the broken mess.

“I had strings, but now I’m free.” Then it finally powered down.

Breathing a sigh of relief, you turned towards your friend. “Stark, as fun as this was, can the next party not have homicidal robots?”


	10. Mutates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glass meets Ultron's newest team.

A few days after the attack at the party, the team was gathered in a conference room going through boxes and boxes of paper files. The only thing you had left since Ultron wiped out all digital information you had on Strucker.

Hours after he had trashed the Tower, Ultron had recruited Wanda and Pietro Maximoff - the two mutates your teammates had fought in Sokovia. You found out from Maria Hill that Pietro moved too fast for the human eye to see while Wanda was like you - telekinetic and telepathic. The only time you had gone against a fellow telepath in the field was your own cousin, Emma Frost. Add telekinesis to the mix, and this would be an interesting fight.

The information dig lead you to Ulysses Klaue, a black arms dealer who had apparently stolen vibranium from Wakanda. You soon found yourself invisible, walking around a beached freighter as Klaue’s men worked to tear apart the boat. The power went out and you heard someone above crash through a window. Lifting yourself up, you landed across from Ultron talking to Klaue.

Ultron said something that reminded Klaue of Stark. Next thing you knew, Ultron had cut Klaue’s arm off in anger.

“Don’t compare me to Stark!” He kicked Klaue down a flight of stairs. “It’s a thing with me. Stark is….. He’s a sickness!”

“Ah, Junior,” Stark’s voice called out as he landed next to you (he had added tech to his suits to read your body temp so he didn’t accidentally hit you when invisible). “You’re gonna break your old man’s heart.”

“If I have to.”

As the Avengers and Ultron’s team talked, you quietly moved towards the twins. Suddenly Wanda whipped her head in your direction. Crap.

“You two can still walk away from this,” Steve called out.

“Oh we will,” Wanda said confidently. “But will your friend?”

She threw a red energy pulse at you, but it bounced harmless off. You shimmered into view, causing Pietro to drop his jaw in shock. “It’s a shame that Strucker never told you what you are. What you both are. Then maybe you would have known you weren’t alone.”

“Oh? And what are we?” Wanda advanced towards you.

“Mutants. Strucker didn’t create you, he just unlocked your genetics. There are more like us. Thousands. Come with us. I know of a safe haven for you both.”

Ultron scoffed. “A safe haven? Like their home had been?”

“They’ll be safer than if they stay with you, that’s for damn sure.” 

“Let’s test that theory,” Ultron made a fist and Stark flew past you thanks to the magnetic pull. He then used an energy blast to toss him into you. 

Knowing Tony would be fine, you made a shield for him to bounce off of and ran at Ultron. You were tossed aside like a rag doll by the blur called Pietro. Chaos rang out and the Iron Legion bots that Ultron had stolen showed up to attack your team. Ultron and Stark burst out the top of the ship as they fought, leaving your team to fight the bots and the twins.

Shaking yourself off, you used your mind to search for Wanda. Because she was still new at her powers, she didn’t know how to keep you out. 

_ Stay out! _

_ Wanda, listen to me! I can help you! _

_ How can you help when you’re friends with Stark! _

_ He’s not responsible for what happened! _ You reached in and read what happened to her and Pietro.  _ Men like Klaue are at fault. Men like Obediah Stane who stabbed Stark in the back by selling his former weapons on the black market. You and Pietro have a chance at the life your parents always wanted. _

_ STAY OUT! _

You could tell by her anger you were getting closer.  _ Wanda, let me help you.  _

_ How can you help me, when you can’t even help your friends? _

Your blood ran cold and at that moment you could hear outside her thoughts. She had been going around to each Avenger still in the freighter, warping their mind. Quickly reaching out, you found the one she had yet to touch. And as you reached Hawkeye, you realized you had nothing to worry about.

He stuck an electrical arrow to her forehead as she attempted to sneak upon him. “I’ve done the whole mind control thing. Not a fan.”

Before you could take over, the human blur knocked Clint through an office window and scooped up his sister. You both locked eyes before he ran off.

Reaching through the window with your powers, you helped Clint out. 

“Thanks, kid.” He then touched his comm. “Who’s ever standing, we need to move. Guys?”

You touched his arm, “Wanda got to them before I could stop her. We’re gonna have our hands full, Barton.”

He pulled his mouth into a thin line and nodded. You split up to grab the other Avengers to lead them to the Quinjet. Using your powers, you lifted both Thor and Steve into the air and walked them inside. As you headed back for Barton and Romanov, you heard Stark over the comms.

“Natasha, I could really use a lullaby.” That’s when you realized the jet had been empty of Banner. Horror filled you as you could only imagine what Wanda had done to him.

Clint answered him. “That’s not gonna happen. Not for a while.”

You spoke up. “The team is down, thanks to the Dynamic Duo. I’ll come lend you a hand, Stark.”

“No, Glass. It’s too dangerous.”

“So is letting the Hulk loose on that nearby city.”

“Don’t worry. I’m calling in Veronica.”

You sighed and looked up as Clint was carrying Nat over. “Keep an eye on these three. Stark needs my help, whether he likes it or not.”

“Glass, he might be right on this one.”

You stopped and looked at Clint. “This is my fault. I should have stopped her. I have to try to save them.”

Clint watched as you lifted yourself into the air and raced towards the city. You arrived just as the Hulk busted out of the iron cage Veronica creates before the suit is built. All around the city was in ruins, people not knowing where safety was, and police filling the streets. With your eyes glowing brightly, you encased the Hulk in your own invisible barrier. He bounced angrily around, trying to find a hole in your shield.

“Glass, what the hell are you doing?!” You heard Tony’s mechanized voice.

“Lending you a hand, you ungrateful bastard! Get the people out of this area!”

Veronica landed and began to form around Tony’s suit until he was as large as the Hulk. Meanwhile, Hulk kept beating against your shield and you gritted your teeth in concentration. The glow in your eyes became brighter and soon your hands followed suit.

“Uh, Glass? Do you know you’re glowing?”

“Not now, Stark!” You growled through your clenched jaw. 

All around you, the city was a mess of destroyed cars, screaming people, and confused policemen. And through it all, the Hulk was trying to break free. And unless you gave into your powers, he would eventually succeed.

“Stark, I need you to pin his arms once I drop my shield.”

“I’m sorry. I’m going to what and you’re going to WHAT?!”

“Just do it!” You lowered yourself so you were eye level with the Hulk. Seeing you within reach enraged him more and he aimed straight for you as he fought against your shield.

Tony moved behind him and you slowly peeled the shield away from the back. He quickly latched on to the Hulk as the rest of your shield went away. Then Tony was violently tossed like a rag. 

Without thinking, you flew into Hulk’s face and latched onto each side of his head. His roar almost shattered your eardrums, but you held on tight.

As the Hulk reached to swat at you, you delved deep into his mind until you found Banner trapped in the back. You had never tried this before, but you didn’t have a choice. Just as the Hulk’s giant hand made contact with your head, you release Banner from the mental prison.

Everything went black as a large crack formed in your glass.

————

You slowly came to, well aware of the headache that was beginning to grow. Groaning against the pain, you slowly opened your eyes only to be confused by your surroundings. You were no longer in a destroyed city off the African Coastline where you had fought Ultron and then the Hulk. This was a farmhouse.

“Take it easy. You took quite the hit to your temple. If it wasn’t for your powers, you’d have a concussion right now.”

Blinking, you took in a familiar face that was now hovering over you.

“Laura? Are we-?”

“Yes, you’re at the farm. Clint brought you all here after what happened to the team. Hills said you needed to lay low for a while.”

She helped you sit up and you took in the look of the guest room you and Nat had shared during the many times you had visited Clint’s family. No one else beside Fury and Coulson had known this place existed. Things must have been bad for Clint to bring the team.

“I’m sorry we crashed like this.”

Laura looked at you with warm eyes and a smile. “You know you and Nat are always welcomed here and it’s nice to finally meet the rest.”

There was a small pause before you asked the needed question. “How’s Bruce?”

Laura sighed. “He’s ok, but he’s clearly beating himself up over what happened to you.”

“That wasn’t his fault.”

“He knows, but he still can’t help the guilt. Just….give him some space before you talked to him about it.”

You nodded. “Thanks, Laura. I guess I better head downstairs and check on the rest of the team.”

“Not yet. There’s one more thing.” She opened the door and Steve walked through. She gave you a quick wink before leaving the room.

You adjusted yourself on the bed. “Hey, Cap. How are you holding up?”

“Good. Better than you from what I heard.”

“No, I was just smacked around a little. You had your head turned inside out.” You sighed. “And I’m sorry. I should have stopped her before she was even able to try.”

He reached over and took your hand. “It’s not your fault, Glass. No one on the team blames you.”

“If only I could get through to her. To get her to talk to Xavier at least.” You sighed. “But we’re not exactly in a position to ask for his help right now.”

“No, but I know of someone else we can talk to right now.”

“Who?”

“Fury’s here.”


	11. Sokovia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers need to stop Ultron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to do one long-ass chapter to finish and do another time jump. So enjoy!

The team gathered with Fury in the kitchen of Clint’s farmhouse. Clint and Tony were playing darts while Fury paced. Steve stood against a wall across from the table you and Nat sat at with Clint’s two kids. Bruce was helping Laura grab some beer from the fridge.

“Ultron put you folks out of play to buy himself some time.” Fury stated. “My contacts all say he’s building something. The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don’t think it’s just one thing.”

“What about Ultron himself?” Steve questioned.

“Oh, he’s easy to track. Guy’s everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. It still doesn’t help us get an angle on any of his plans, though.”

Tony pipped up by the dartboard. “Is he still going after launch codes?”

“Yes, he is. But he’s not making any headway.”

“I cracked the Pentagon’s firewall in high school on a dare.”

“Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that.”

“Nexus?” Steve asked.

“It’s the world internet hub in Oslo,” you answered.

Banner joined in. “Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on earth”

Fury jumped back in. “He’s fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed.”

“By whom?” Tony flinched as Clint whipped 3 darts at once by his head.

“Party’s unknown.”

Nat sighed. “Well, this is good times, boss. But when I saw you I’d hope you’d have more than that.”

“I do. I have you. Here we all are with our wit and our will to save the Earth. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing standing between him and his mission. And whether or not he wants to admit it, his mission is global destruction.”

Your eyebrows furrowed. “Wait, the Avengers? He didn’t mention the X-Men?”

“Doesn’t seem like he knows about them. Though, no offense, you people do like to keep a low profile.”

“Maybe it’ll be in our advantage to ask them to help.”

“I already reached out to them. Xavier can’t spare his team right now. They’ve been commissioned by NASA for help.”

“NASA?” Bruce turned to you. 

“First I’ve heard of this. So what do we do?”

“Stand.” Fury stated. “Outwit the platinum bastard.”

“Steve doesn’t like that kind of talk.” Nat smirk.

“You know what, Romanov?” Steve tried to stare her down with a straight face.

“So what does he want?” Clint brought the conversation back around.

“To become better,” Steve answered. “Better than us. He keeps building bodies.”

Tony chimed in. “Person bodies. But the human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we’re outmoded.”

“Speak for yourself, Stark. Mutants are the next form of evolution…..” you trailed off and looked over at Bruce. “That’s his plan.”

Bruce caught on, but the room was confused. Clint spoke up. “What’s his plan?”

“Ultron plans to evolve,” Bruce whispered.

Fury blinked. “How?”

Bruce looked around the room. “Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?”

The room erupted and everyone immediately took a task. Steve, Clint, and Nat were going to take the Quinjet to South Korea to check on Dr. Cho while Stark headed to Oslo to find out who was keeping the launch codes from Ultron. Fury offered to drop Banner off at the Tower.

“I’m coming with.”

Bruce wouldn’t meet your eyes. “Glass, you should go with Steve. They’ll need you.”

“All they’re doing is recon. They can spare the mutant. We need to get the Tower ready for whatever the team finds out.”

He just nodded and walked off to Fury’s plane. Fury saddled up next to you. “He blames himself.”

“I know.”

“And he’s afraid to do it again.”

“I know.” 

The flight back was quiet and awkward. As soon as Fury opened the backdoor, Banner sprinted out to get to the lab. You raced after him.

“Bruce, wait!”

He stopped at the lab’s door but didn’t turn around. “I’m so sorry, Glass.”

“Bruce, it’s-”

“Don’t. It is my fault. My fault I can’t control the Hulk. Maybe if I had, I could have stopped him from freaking out with what that witch showed him.”

You gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “You just need more practice. It’s like being a mutant: you never stop learning. And before you say it’s not the same, it is. I have to be so careful because of how strong my powers are. I’m constantly on a tightrope, trying not to fall off and let my powers take control of me. It will take time, but one day you will find the solution. For both of you.”

He turned to face you and offered a small smile. You pulled him in for a hug. “Thank you, Glass.”

You helped Bruce get the lab ready and soon you were joined by Tony and then Clint, with a cradle but no Nat. And looking very distraught.

“What happened?”

“Ultron got her. That’s all I know.”

You were so distraught from the news, you didn’t hear Bruce ask Tony if he heard anything. Or the response. Clint pulled at the cradle with no luck.

“Can you open it, Glass?”

“I could try, but with that gem inside I’d hate to fuck it up. One false step and the Tower would be no more.”

“We’re gonna need to access the program,” Bruce came over with Tony, “break it down from within.”

Tony nodded and turned to Clint. “Any chance Natasha would leave you a message outside the internet? Old-school spy stuff?”

“There are some nets I can cast. I’ll find her.”

Clint left the room and you immediately heard inside Tony’s head. “Stark….”

He waved you off and walked over to Bruce. 

“I can work on tissue degeneration, Tony if you could fry whatever operational system Cho implanted.”

Tony scratched his head. “Yeah, about that.”

“No, Stark.” You warned.

Bruce did a double-take. “No.”

“You have to trust me.” Tony reached out.

“Kind of don’t.”

“Gotta agree with Banner on this one.”

“Our ally - the guy protecting the nuclear codes -” Tony flicked his phone and the electronic layout of Jarvis popped up. “I found him.”

“Oh my god. Jarvis? I thought Ultron killed him.” You walked over to the orange glow.

“Hello, Agent Glass. Dr. Banner.”

Tony quickly went over how Ultron tried to go after Jarvis because he was afraid of what Jarvis would do. The more Tony’s plan unfolded in his mind, the more onboard you were. As crazy as it was.

“He’s right, Bruce. We need to do this.”

“I’m in a loop!” Bruce threw up his hands. “I’m caught in a time loop!”

“Bruce,” you laid a hand on his shoulder, “this will work. I trust Jarvis to be what we need.”

He sighed and then nodded. You stepped out of the way as he and Tony went into overdrive to get Jarvis inside the new body. Everything was going well…..

“Uh, Glass? Any reason why your eyes are glowing?” Tony was looking up at you.

“Putting up a shield, Stark.”

“Why?”

Just then, Steve walked in trailed by Wanda and Pietro. “I’m only going to say this once.”

“How ‘bout ‘none-ce’?” Tony sassed.

“Shut it down!”

“Nope, not gonna happen.”

“Steve, you need to back away from this. They know what they’re doing.”

“Glass, I can’t believe you’re helping them.”

“The fact that I can read Tony’s full plan in his mind and I’m still helping him should tell you to get with the damn program.”

“You don’t know what you’re doing!”

“And you do?” Bruce challenged. “She’s not in your head right now.”

“I know you’re angry-” Wanda started.

“Oh, we’re way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade.”

They continued to argue and Pietro tried to run around to unplug the cradle. But he ran headfirst into your shield and skidded across the floor until he was at your feet.

“What?” You looked down at him. “You didn’t see that coming? What about this?”

A bullet shot up from the glass floor and Pietro fell through, landing on the desk Clint had been working on. He stood on the chair and pressed a foot into the kid’s chest.

Wanda came at you and you dropped your shield to hold her at bay. Steve used the window to toss his shield at the controls and he and Tony began to fight. 

Without warning, Thor ran into the room and jumped onto the cradle. He raised Mjolnir high above his head and summoned a lightning bolt.

“Thor, no!” But it was too late so you wrapped yourself in a bubble as the cradle overloaded and then blew open, tossing Thor back.

A maroon and silver man burst out and looked straight at you. He flew in your direction and you used your powers to toss him over your head. He crashed through a wall and stopped himself before hitting the outer wall of the tower. Everyone slowly walked over as the android produced clothes and a cape over himself.

He lowered himself until he was in front of the group. Thor set Mjolnir down and joined the group. 

“I’m sorry. That was….odd.” He nodded at Thor. “Thank you.”

“Thor, you helped create this?” Steve was angry.

“I've had a vision. In the center was that,” he pointed at the gem in the android’s forehead. “It’s the Mind Stone. One of the six Infinity Stones. Unparalleled in its destructive capabilities.” 

“Then why would you-”

“Because Stark is right.”

You looked over at Steve and just raised an eyebrow. Vision began to explain how he wasn’t a child of Ultron, but he wasn’t Jarvis either. 

“I looked in your head and saw annihilation,” Wanda stated.

“Look again.”

“Her opinion means jack shit to me,” Clint grunted.

“Then I’ll look. If it’s alright with you, Vision.”

“Of course, Agent Glass.” 

You sent your mind out and let out a gasp. No mind had ever been more complex. But there was no hint at destroying the world. “Thor’s right. The Mind Stone is very powerful. And very complex. But also on our side.”

“Is he?” Steve looked at you. “On our side?”

Vision launched into a speech about who he was and wasn’t, being on the side of life, and not wanting to kill Ultron but having too.

“There may be no way to make you trust me.” He grabbed Mjolnir and held it out for Thor, “but we need to go.”

The silence was deafening and your jaw dropped. “Uh…..I don’t know about the rest of you, but if my reading his mind wasn’t good enough, can that be?”

The team went to work preparing to leave for Sokovia. Wanda and Pietro cautiously came over as you were changing into an outfit more made for flying.

Wanda cleared her throat. “Glass...I-”

You waved her off. “Don’t. We don’t have time to get sappy. You forget I’m a mutant, as well. The only difference is I had somewhere safe to go to when my powers came out. I’ll never fully understand why you turned to Hydra, but I’m glad you’ve both seen the light. When this is all over, I’ll introduce you to Xavier. He can help more.”

“Thank you.”

On the jet ride over, Steve gave one of his signature rally speeches. But you were off on your own in the back. This mission would push your powers to the test and you didn’t know what was waiting on the other side.

In Sokovia, the twins went to work getting people from their old city out to safety. Thor went to Strucker’s old hideout to find what Ultron’s been building while Bruce tried to find Nat. Hawkeye picked a bell tower with a view of the city as Steve directed the leaving crowds. 

Tony headed to find Ulton and you elected to stay invisible and nearby just in case he needed a hand. 

Steve spoke up in your ear. “Glass, I just want to say-”

“Not now, Rogers. We’ll discuss you not trusting me later.”

You entered the church behind Stark and saw a device pop up from the ground. FRIDAY confirmed it was the rest of the stolen vibranium. Vision descended at that moment, beginning part of the plan to burn Ultron out of the internet

Out of anger, Ultron turned a dial on the device. “You take away my world, I take away yours.”

The ground rumbled and screams could be heard all over the city. The earth beneath you shifted and you realized with horror that the city was lifted into the air. You tuned out Ultron’s self-righteous speech to focus on the city lifting higher into the air. 

FRIDAY spoke in your ear as she responded to Tony, stating how the vibranium core was keeping the city together as it rose. If it were to drop, global destruction. Tony and FRIDAY went round and round, trying to formulate a plan to bring Sokovia down. But everything ended with death.

You sent a wave of power through four different Ultron’s. “Stark, I have a plan. I can bring it down.”

“You can?!”

You let out a shaky breath, “yeah. I can. I would feel shit tons better about it if people weren’t on board, but I can still do this.”

“The boosters are rigged to flip if touched,” FRIDAY cautioned in your ears.

“Only if I give them time to flip.” 

Nat spoke up. “And if you fail, there are worse ways to go. Where else am I going to get a view like this?”

Someone interrupted on the comms. “Glad you like the view, Romanov. It’s about to get better.”

Reading Natasha’s mind, you could see Fury had pulled up an old Helicarrier alongside the floating island. You breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Great. Get everyone on board. I’ll take care of Sokovia.”

You flew back to the church and turned visible, ripping at every Ultron that tried to get close to reverse the boosters. One tried to sneak up on you, and was immediately cut in half by a shield.

“Who said you can be the hero alone?” Tony landed next to you.

Steve walked up. “I’m sorry, Glass. I do trust you. Let’s bring this rock down. Together.”

You smiled at him and looked at the team. “Keep those cockroaches off me. I’ll need to concentrate.”

“Gladly,” Wanda smirked at you.

The team went to work tearing apart the robots. 

Taking a deep breath, you opened your eyes and they were glowing brightly. As you reached out, the glow grew brighter. The island slowly came to a halt.

“Good job, Glass!” Clint used his bow as a bat against one robot.

Your hands began to glow like they had when you went against the Hulk and it soon spread up your arms until your entire body was lit up like a star. Beneath the ground, your powers hit each booster at the same time and crushed them before they had a chance to go into reverse.

“Boss, the boosters have been destroyed.”

“Then how are we still in the air, FRIDAY?”

“Agent Glass is keeping the city afloat.”

Vision ripped the last Ultron apart and the team turned to stare at you, the best they could against the glow. Your face was serene as you slowly lowered the city back to earth, making sure the ground stayed level.

As the island settled back into its hole, you began to float into the sky. The vibranium core ripped out of the ground and began to follow you. Higher and higher you rose, taking the core with you. Then gunshots erupted, bouncing off you harmlessly. You snapped your head to look at Ultron flying the stolen Quinjet at you. 

_ Crack _

Lifting the core above your head, you used it as a bat and smashed the jet down the middle. Ultron tried to fly away in his beaten up robotic body, but you used your powers to pull the water out of the nearby lake in the form of a watery cyclone. It engulfed Ultron in seconds, spitting him out the other side.

“Glass, stop!” Steve called out from below. 

His voice hit you and you lowered yourself down to the team, the glow still bright. You brought yourself eye-level to Steve.

“I can’t stop it.” You whispered.

“It’s ok, Glass.” He reached out to pull you in, his arms engulfing you. “You’re gonna be ok.”

It felt safe in his arms and your glow began to recede until everything about you was normal again.

“Thank you, Steve.”


	12. The Accords

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glass and Steve find themselves on opposite sides.

“Does it still happen to you?”

“Yes. Every time I use my powers for anything beyond basic small things, I turn into a glowstick.”

Xavier wrote down in his notepad. You didn’t pay any attention as you looked out his office window at the kids playing outside.

“Do your powers come easier to you?”

“Yes. Too easily. I have to remind myself not to let go. My glass wall is crumbling.”

Xavier sighed. “It is. And we can’t fix it.”

Your eyebrows furrowed and you turned to look at your former professor. “What? How is that possible?”

“When we originally built your wall, we locked it to the subconscious part of your powers. To strengthen it again, we would have to tear down the old one and build it from scratch.”

“And if my wall comes down…..”

“The full level of your powers will be unleashed. And we don’t know if we will be able to contain them again.”

“So I’m a ticking time bomb? Like Jean?”

He sighed again. “Jean is getting better. The…. force that entered her while in space seems to be calming down.”

You raised an eyebrow. “That sounds really convincing. Listen, I know this…. Phoenix Force in her is more complicated than what’s happening to me, but I’m alone over there. No one else in the compound understands my issues. Wanda is still too new to her abilities.”

“Are you saying you want to come back to the mansion?”

“Maybe I should. Just for right now. Be around others that can stop me if I get too strong.” You noticed Xavier’s hesitation. “You don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Your team needs you.”

“It’s more than that. You feel the Phoenix Force is contagious. Don’t you?”

“Normally I would, but it seems to be permanently bonded to Jean. No, it’s more your powers may feed off each other. And we don’t know what those consequences may look like.”

Xavier’s words haunted you as you rode your motorcycle back to the Avengers compound. After the incident with Ultron, Tony used an old abandoned Stark building in Upstate New York as the new location for the team to call home. It was a beautiful property right next to a lake on the edge of the woods. 

As you pulled up, your heart dropped. You could hear an extra voice in the main entrance walking around the main lobby.

Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross.

Crap.

You parked your bike in the garage and turned invisible. As you walked through the compound, you heard agents from the rebuilt SHIELD mutter about something called the accords. It made you think of the Mutant Registration Act all over again.

Towards the back of the compound, you found the team in a conference room of the main hang out room. They were all sitting around a table except for Secretary Ross.

Ross was blathering on about getting perspective after an issue at the golf course. You quietly walked into the space and leaned against a railing, waiting for your opening.

“The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt.” Oh, this old song and dance. He tried this on the professor once. “You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives. But while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some who would prefer the word ‘vigilantes’.”

Nat sat up in her chair. “And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?”

“How about ‘dangerous’? What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?”

He stepped to the side, nearly in front of you, and a screen popped up with a map of the world. As he spoke, dots lit up of the location he was mentioning. Followed by footage to prove his point.

“New York.” A video of the Hulk bringing down part of a building down on bystanders. “Washington, D.C.” The takedown of Hydra and the Helicarriers meant to kill millions. “Sokovia.” People fleeing from Ultrons as the city rose in the air. “Lagos.” A building on fire from where Wanda tried to stop Crossbones vest bomb.

Wanda choked up and you couldn’t take it. “Ok, stop.”

You could tell you had caught the Secretary off guard, but he did his best to hide it.

“Well, we were wondering where you were, Glass. How nice of you to finally join us.”

Shimmering into view, you walked around to look Ross in the face. “You know, when people throw stones, they tend to make sure they aren’t living in glass houses first.”

“Agent Glass, for the past four years, you’ve operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That’s an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate.”

“Ok, fair. I understand that. But may I?” You gestured at the screen. Then you didn’t let him answer as you went back over every location. “New York: that would be SHIELD’s fault for fucking around with the tesseract. If they had just left it alone, Loki may not have come to earth. Hard to say. But I will say it was the World Security Council and its infinite wisdom that thought it was a good idea to send a NUCLEAR FUCKING WEAPON to level the island of Manhattan. You’re right. Dozens, if not hundreds died while we were fighting the Chitari. But compared to letting aliens take over or granting Manhattan nuclear winter, I think our route was preferable.”

“Agent Glass-”

You continued. “D.C.: SHIELD’s fault again. Though this time, old-school SHIELD. Not sure what possessed them to think it was a great idea to recruit Red Skull’s right-hand man, but that’s neither here nor there. Again, dozens may have died while we took Hydra down, but it’s far better than the millions that were going to die at the hands of the beefed-up Helicarriers.”

“Young lady-”

“Sokovia…..alright, that one’s a mixed bag. If Hydra hadn’t been allowed to grow, then they never would have had Loki’s staff to unlock the twin’s powers, to then manipulate Tony’s mind which resulted in Ultron. But if memory serves me correctly, I did put Sokovia back where Ultron found it, and in one piece.”

“That’s enough!”

“I’m not done!” Ross actually flinched when he saw the glow in your eyes flash briefly. “Lagos….. is one hundred percent my fault.”

The room stood silent. Ross raised an eyebrow. “Please elaborate. Because if my memory serves correctly, you weren’t on that mission.”

“That’s why it’s my fault. If I had been there instead of Wanda, that incident with Crossbones wouldn’t have happened. She was still too new in her powers, but I let her go in my place as I-” you closed your eyes for a moment. “As there was a greater need for me at Xavier’s school.”

“Well, luckily the world governments have a solution.” He took a large packet from his assistant and placed it on the table. The words jumped out at you.

**The Sokovia Accords**

“This has been approved by a hundred and seventeen countries. It states that the Avengers and the X-Men shall no longer be private organizations. Instead, they’ll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary.”

Steve tapped the document. “The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place.”

You jumped back in. “And the X-Men were created to fight the battles that humans can’t. Such as the Brotherhood and the Hell’s Fire Club.”

“Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner currently are? Or you, Glass? Can you tell me you can control Deadpool?”

“Bold of you to assume the government could control him.”

“You haven’t answered my other question. If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you can bet there’d be consequences.”

“Ok, that is literally the stupidest comparison I’ve heard to date.” You leaned against the table by Steve. “Wherever Banner may be, he clearly chose somewhere away from people to cut off being a threat. And as for Thor, the man is literally an alien god from another planet. He’s probably on his homeworld right now. And how in fresh hell would the world governments even punish Thor if they thought he was out of line. You know, the actual God of Thunder? Or Vision for that matter, who can walk through walls? Not like a mutant collar would work on him. What’s the plan if we don’t sign this?”

“Then you retire. Or in your case, you sign the Mutant Registration Act. And you know all that comes with it.” That silenced you. He then addressed everyone at the table. “Think it over. The UN meets in three days to ratify this.”

The group erupted into discussion while Steve read over the Accords. You didn’t need to. Ross had told you all you had needed to know. So you plopped onto one of the chaise lounges and stared out the window. You were soon joined by Tony on the other side of the same lounge. 

In the background, Sam and Rhodey were arguing both sides, Nat and Vision had taken seats close to you and Tony, Steve was parked in a chair still reading the Accords, and Pietro was telling his sister for the hundredth time that Lagos wasn’t her fault. 

Nat cleared her throat. “Tony, you seem uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal.”

“That’s because he’s already made up his mind,” Steve spoke up.

“Boy, you know me so well.” Tony sat up and rubbed the back of his head. “Actually, I’m nursing an electromagnetic headache. That’s what’s wrong, Cap. And worrying about our resident mutants, whom you’ve all seemed to forgotten about.”

You sighed. “Tony, please.”

Steve looked over at you. “Glass? What’s he talking about?”

Letting out a deep breath, you turned to face the room. “I don’t like this. Not any of it. Yes, we can’t run free to do whatever the fuck we want, but it is a slippery slope. The governments having control over us and the X-Men can have some major ramifications.”

“But….” Steve prompted.

“But they’ll get their wish either way.” You looked over at the Maximoff twins. “If we say no to signing the Accords, then it means a permanent retirement for our kind.”

Pietro hugged his sister. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, we ‘retire’,” you made the air quotes motion, “and we sign the act that says we promise not to use our powers for vigilante justice. Then….”

“Then?!”

“Then they put a collar on us to make sure we stick to that promise. And only they can remove it.”

The room was filled with shock silence and Steve set the Accords down. “Are you serious?”

“Does that really sound like something I’d make up? I even know mutants who have had to wear the collars at some point. It’s not pretty.” You turned back to the twins. “Both of you are not citizens of the US. At any point, they can decide to deport you. Especially if you don’t sign.”

“Are you saying they’d come for us.” Wanda was filled with fear.

“We would protect you,” Vision announced.

“Vis, don’t make promises you can’t keep. I’ve seen these teams take down mutants before. Not even I could stop them unless I fully unleashed my powers. And that sure as shit wouldn’t help our argument.” You sighed and closed your eyes. “I’m not a fan of the Accords, but I will sign them. They seem far easier to alter from the inside than the Registration Act ever could be. I highly suggest Pietro and Wanda sign them as well, at the very least. If the rest of you wish to retire, that’s your choice. I can’t live with a giant ass collar around my neck like I’m someone’s pet for the rest of my life.”

“Glass,” Steve’s voice carrying your name was always a delight to you. But now it just caused pain. “We can fix the Mutant Registration Act.”

You gave a bitter laugh. “Oh, my sweet summer child. I would give nothing more than to live in your shoes for at least one day. So I would know what it’s like to not have to constantly look over my shoulder for someone trying to control me. To think that it’s not as bad as it really is.”

“There’s no decision-making process here,” Tony stated. “We need to be put in check and we need to protect our teammates from the worst-case scenario. Whatever form that takes I’m game. If we can’t accept limitations, if we’re boundary-less, we’re no better than the bad guys.”

“Tony, if someone dies on your watch, you don’t give up. And we are if we’re not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame.”

“I’m sorry, Steve,” Rhodey chimed in, “that is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we’re talking about. This isn’t SHIELD or Hydra.”

“No, but it’s run by people and people have agendas, and agendas change.”

“And no one knows that better than me.” Steve turned to look at you. “You don’t want to sign, Steve. Fine. With your background I completely get it. But you need to get your head out of your ass and realize that people with my background can’t gamble like that.”

“Glass, if we sign this, we surrender our right to choose.”

Tears formed in your eyes. You couldn’t believe Steve didn’t see your side in this. “I would rather surrender my right to choose until we could make amendments to the Accords than lose my freedom for the rest of my life.”

The room watched in silence as you left the room to keep everyone from seeing you cry.


	13. The Turning Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lines are drawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was watching Dark Phoenix and First Class, so got a lot of ideas from here.
> 
> Also wanted to finish up the Civil War timeline so this'll be long lol!

You and Piotr helped maneuver Xavier’s wheelchair through the UN building in Vienna. Natasha was meeting you after attending Peggy Carter’s funeral with Steve. Normally you would have gone as well, but you and Steve hadn’t really patched things up since the argument over the Accords three days earlier. It was odd not having him to talk to after all these years. 

“He will come around,” Xavier tried to comfort you as your group exited the elevator. “He will just need time to see this is the right path for now.”

“I wish I was as confident as you on the matter. The man has been putting riot in patriot since World War II. If anything seems even slightly unjust, he’ll fight it.”

Before Xavier could respond, an older gentleman in a very nice suit walked up being trailed by someone you suspected was his son.

“Agent ____, thank you so much for coming here today.” The man had an accent and you instantly recognized him.

“Thank you, King T’Chaka. But please, just call me Glass. I’m no longer an agent of SHIELD.” You gestured at the two men with you. “Allow me to introduce Piotr Rasputin and Professor Charles Xavier of the X-Men and Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Piotr is also known as Colossus and is a teacher at the school. Professor Xavier created both the school and the team.”

“Gentlemen, thank you for coming today. I would like to introduce my son, Prince T’Challa.” After the appropriate greetings, T’Chaka turned to Xavier. “While we are grateful for your team to sign the Accords, I am sorry to hear what the alternative is in your country if you choose to retire.”

“Thank you. Dr. Hank McCoy is working with some US senators in hopes of changing it for the better. Then less of our kind will feel the need to hide.”

Everyone settled down and you took a seat in between Natasha and Piotr, with Xavier at the end of your aisle. King T’Chaka took the podium and began a speech as to why the Accords were necessary. But you became distracted by his son who was looking out the large wall of windows. Before you had a chance to assess why he wasn’t focusing, several things happened at once.

“Glass,” Xavier whispered in a worried tone.

And a fraction of a second later, T’Challa was dashing for his father. “GET DOWN!”

You tossed up a shield as you felt the rumble, but you weren’t close enough to know what was happening. You weren’t fast enough. You didn’t expand your shield far enough. 

And when the dust cleared, you watched T’Challa crawl towards his father. And you felt a crack in your glass as you realized how badly you had failed.

Then you were on the Quinjet. How - you don’t remember. You don’t remember crying as you apologized to T’Challa for not being fast enough. You don’t remember Natasha talking to Steve on the phone about what happened. You don’t remember Colossus then leading you onto the jet, stating where you were heading. Or that Colossus and Xavier weren’t coming with you, leaving on the X-Jet separately. 

And then you were in Germany. Nat lead you off the jet to see Tony waiting with a few people.

“What’s wrong with her?” One person asked. He clearly was in charge of the group, but you barely noticed him.

“She’s in shock from the bombing.” Nat looked over at Tony. “She’s blaming herself for not putting up a big enough shield.”

Tony ran a hand over his face and turned to the first person. “Agent Ross, this is Glass. She was an agent with SHIELD when she joined the Avengers. She can make shields as one of her many talents.”

You met Tony’s eyes and he instantly wrapped you in a hug. Then you sobbed for the second time.

“It’s ok, Kiddo. I know how you feel.” Tony rubbed your back. “No one blames you. You’re not psychic.”

“But I should have stopped it. I’m powerful enough. I’m quick enough.”

“Death is an unfortunate part of the superhero gig. Not even you can stop it.” He began to lead you farther into the building, explaining that you were at the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre in Germany. 

He sat you down in an office and Agent Ross handed you a glass of water. You looked at both men. “Do we know who the bomber was?”

Tony hesitated while Ross jumped right in. “The Winter Soldier.”

Shit. Now you had a better idea what Nat and Steve might have been talking about. You glanced over at Nat. “Please don’t tell me he’s stupid enough to do what I think he’s going to do.”

“I don’t know. This is Bucky we’re talking about. You know how Steve will take this.”

There was a heavy silence in the room before you spoke again. “How long has it been since the bombing?”

“Six hours, roughly. They are pinpointing Bucky’s location now and should be bringing him here by tomorrow.” Tony placed a hand on your shoulder. “Just sit here and relax. When you’re ready, we’ll take you somewhere to get cleaned up.”

“Thanks, Tony.”

The next twelve hours seemed like a dream - or rather a nightmare. You were in a trance as you relived what happened in Vienna. Nat and Tony managed to get you to eat before Nat took you down to a locker room for you to shower and change. Then she had you lay on a couch in an office with your head in her lap as she tried to coax you to sleep.

But you didn’t have a chance to relax before Sharon Carter poked her head in. “They found him. And they’re bringing them in. Along with Steve and Sam. And Prince T’Challa.”

Nat moved your head. “Stay here and try to sleep.”

Fat chance. As soon as she left the room, you turned invisible and followed after her. But Tony grabbed your arm before you got far.

“What the-”

He tapped his glasses. “FRIDAY picked up your body signature. Just chill, little glow worm. They’ll be up soon enough.”

You remained invisible but stayed put. Soon, Agent Ross and Sharon were leading the group through the floor. Tony was on the phone with Secretary Ross.

“You bet there’ll be consequences.” Tony’s voice barely kept back his anger. “Obviously you can quote me on that. I just said it.”

“Consequences?” Steve raised an eyebrow.

“Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted. Had to give him something.”

“I’m not getting that shield back, am I?”

Nat looked back at them. “Technically, it’s the government’s property. Wings too.”

“That’s cold,” Sam whistled.

“Warmer than jail,” Tony called over his shoulder as he walked off with Nat.

Agent Ross motioned for the two men to follow. “This way, gentlemen.”

Steve sighed, so you shimmered into view. And tried to keep a straight face as Agent Ross almost jumped out of his shoes. “Better go with him, Rogers. Make this a whole lot easier on yourself and Bucky.”

“Holy shit,” Steve instantly wrapped you in a hug. “Nat told me what happened. Are you ok?”

You were supposed to be mad at him, but it was hard when you clearly had feelings for him. So you hugged him back. “I’ll never be able to make it up to T’Challa. He lost so much.”

Steve pulled back and Sam sneaked in for a quick hug himself. “I’m glad you’re ok, Kid. And don’t beat yourself up over it. T’Challa knows you did what you could.”

“Thanks, Sam.” You fell in line with the boys as they walked to the offices they were being kept in.

Agent Ross then turned to you. “So…..”

You rolled your eyes. “Yes, I turn invisible. I also have telekinesis and telepathy. I’m a mutant.”

He nodded his head and walked off. You rolled your eyes again and went to stand with Tony as he came out of one of the offices. “So how did it go talking to Steve?”

“I can’t see why you’re in love with him. He’s so damn stubborn.” You just raised an eyebrow. “Ok, yeah I can be a handful. He wouldn’t sign. Not sure about Sam. And the doctor is almost here to talk to Bucky.”

You knew that was Tony’s way of avoiding the situation. “You’re lucky I’m too damn tired to pry the whole thing out of your head.”

On-screen, a doctor sat across from Bucky’s cell and began to talk with him. But five minutes in, the power in the building cut out. Agent Ross rushed to get eyes on Bucky while Tony had FRIDAY find a source to the outage. You raced off to help evacuate people from the building just in case Bucky did break free.

In an upper floor that served as a cafeteria is where the Winter Soldier found you. He was tossing agents around like they were toys. There was a sound blast from behind you and you saw Tony run up with an Iron Man glove where his watch used to be. Tony hit him again with a light burst and you used this moment to pick him up with your powers. 

“Hold on to him, Glass! Carter, get some cuffs!”

Bucky’s mind was loud and a chaotic mess. You tried to tune it out while you held him in the air. “Hurry! He’s making it hard to concentrate!”

Sharon ran up with cuffs while Nat had a sedative ready to be used. You slowly lowered Bucky down so they could reach him better. 

But an angry Winter Soldier thought lashed out at you, causing you to drop him. He was on you in an instant and you reflexively grabbed his face, diving into his mind. His programming fought you and your powers created a bubble around the two of you without you even knowing. Sharon found out the hard way when she tried to kick him away from you and bounced off. The remaining agents led by Agent Ross flooded the room while you were still locked.

“What’s going on?! Cuff him!”

“We can’t,” Nat growled at him. “She has a shield up.”

The group watched helplessly as Bucky tried to strangle you with his metal hand as you gripped his face. One by one, you pulled out each word tied to his programming. But you couldn’t switch off his current unleashing. The last word rushed at you, slammed into your glass wall, and caused the two of you to blow apart.

A pin size hole pricked your wall. Then everything went dark.

You felt a hand on your forehead and you slowly opened your eyes to see Nat staring down at you. “Oh, thank god. We were afraid you’d never wake up.”

Groaning, you tried to sit up. “I feel like a train ran me over.”

“You were in quite the death grip with Bucky.”

“Is he back in his cell?” Nat looked away. “What happened? I pulled the words out of his head. The ones that switch on the Winter Soldier.”

“Did you? He was still acting like the Soldier after you two broke apart. Toss a few more agents aside and tried to escape on a helicopter. We lost track of him after that. But….”

You didn’t have to guess or pull it from her mind. “Steve’s missing, too.”

“And Sam. Secretary Ross is giving us thirty-six hours to bring them in. So Tony went to get backup.”

“Backup?”

“Apparently a kid with special skills. But not mutant based. And speaking of-”

“No, Nat. I can’t help with this. Please don’t ask me.”

“I’m not. T’Challa did.” She got up from the chair next to the couch. “I’ll text you the location once we have it. In case you change your mind.”

You checked in with the CIA doctor and sent a message to Xavier explaining what happened. Then you gathered what few things you had so you could go back to New York and headed out the building.

“You didn’t go with them?” Turning from the exit, you looked at Agent Ross walking over from the elevator.

“Something happened when I fought Bucky. I can’t do it again in case I didn’t pull his programming out.”

He stepped closer but kept a polite distance. “I’ve heard you're very powerful. Why are you afraid to fight him?”

You hesitated, wondering if it was a good idea to be truthful. “The mind of a telepath is very fragile. It takes only the slightest tap to push it over. I’m not afraid of him. I’m afraid of what I’ll become if I’m not careful.”

He rubbed his face with a hand. “If, uh, if you can also lift things then why not stay a safe distance. Use your powers to bind him.”

You looked away.

“At least do it for T’Challa.”

“Bucky was innocent.” You replied quietly.

“Was he?” Ross was very skeptical. 

“When I was- when I read his mind…. I saw that he wasn’t there. The programming Hydra gave him can’t bury the subconscious. Or even memories. Just keep them hidden from him. So even if he had been in full Winter Soldier mode when he did it, I would have seen it.”

“Well, forgive me but the CIA will need more proof than you reading his mind.”

“Which explains why it wasn’t Xavier today. Which is probably why Bucky was able to break free. Whoever that doctor was, I’m guessing wasn’t who the U.N. sent.” A determined look hardened your face and you marched out the door.

“Where are you going?”

“To get the truth.”

It was easy enough to find everyone once you received your text from Nat. The airport terminal was a mess of cars from a parking garage, broken glass, destroyed fuel trucks, and…. Was that a spider’s web? 

You turned yourself invisible and floated high above the tarmac to see two groups facing each other. This could get uglier than what was apparent around you so you quickly looked for a way to stop the fight, without accidentally hurting anyone again. That’s when you saw the Quinjet hiding in the hanger Tony’s team was trying to guard.

“Boss,” FRIDAY called out, “the jet is starting up.”   


“What?!” Tony whipped around and Nat followed suit. 

The Quinjet powered up and began to roll slowly out of the hanger. 

“Scott?” Steve turned to a teammate you didn’t recognize.

“It’s not me, Cap! Even if I could get enough ants in there, I have no idea how to start that thing!” 

The Quinjet lifted into the air and you shimmered into view as it passed underneath you. You instantly had everyone’s undying attention.

“Holy shit!” Cried out a kid in a blue and red full bodysuit. “You have people that can turn invisible?!”

You locked eyes with Steve. “I’m sorry. Did you need this? I better put it somewhere safe.”

The jet sped up and landed on a nearby parking garage. Wanda tried to reach for it with her powers, but you easily blocked her. The tiny hole in your glass was providing you more power than you realized. You didn’t even have to raise your hands anymore to make something happen. Bungee cords from a nearby luggage cart wrapped around Scott, Wanda, Clint, Bucky, and Steve. With extra cord going over the last two. 

You lowered yourself until you were eye-level with Steve. “I know you committed a felony when you were young. Made up fake names to get into the army. But Steve, this is something entirely different. You’re ripping the team apart over something that can be fixed. You’re ripping our friendship apart.”

“You don’t understand, Glass. That doctor that triggered Bucky is on his way to releasing five other Winter Soldiers. We have to stop him.”

For the first time, you looked at Bucky. “Is this true?”

“He’s heading for Siberia.” He hesitated. “You can pull the location from my mind. I promise I’m in control.”

“I know. I pulled the programming out of your head. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop you mid-” you paused. “I’m sorry I couldn’t pull you out.”

“It’s ok. I’m sorry I hurt you.” 

With great caution, you entered Bucky’s head again and saw what you needed. You brought the Quinjet back down and spoke to Tony. “Take them back to the Centre.”

Back at the Centre, it was painfully awkward amongst the team as they waited for you to return. Tony sent the kid back to Queens with Happy while Agent Ross got Steve, Bucky, Clint, Scott, and Wanda in their cells - with Wanda in a mutation negating collar. Pietro was on the other side of her cell, debating if he should try to break her out.

The door to the cell’s area burst open and a man was tossed to Agent Ross’ feet. You strolled in after him. “Agent Ross, this is Helmut Zemo. The person behind the U.N. bombing.”

As Ross got his agents to get Zemo situated, you walked over to Steve’s cell. “Thank you, Glass.”

“They were dead. The other Winter Soldiers. He killed them. Zemo had set a trap to further break apart the Avengers and you almost walked into it because you were too stubborn to ask for help.” You stepped up so you were almost an inch from the glass of his cell and lowered your voice. “Do you know how he was going to do it? What information he was going to share? How Tony’s parents really died.”

Steve took a deep breath in. “Glass-”

“And I can already tell you never told Tony what you know. I don’t even have to read your mind to know. I can’t believe you kept this from him.”

“Glass, I didn’t want to hurt him.”

“No, you didn’t want to hurt yourself.” You took a deep breath. “Steve, I- I love you. I don’t know when it happened, but I knew you were the one I could see accepting me for who I was.”

Steve’s eyes went soft. “Glass-”

You held up a hand. “But I realize now that I can’t accept who you are. You threw away mine and Tony’s friendship because you couldn’t bother to even try to ask for help. You hid from Tony how his parents really died. You even thought I was crazy to temporarily give up my right to choose over my freedom. I may love you, but you’re not the one for me.”

“Glass!” But you didn’t give him a second look as you turned around and headed out of the room.


	14. The Infinity Stones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's worst fear comes true.

The rain was endless and cold. Ororo could have stopped it at any time, but it was matching her mood. Matching everyone’s mood. It was why the storm was only over Xavier’s mansion. 

The gathering in the garden was small, consisting of Charles, Hank, Storm, Scott, and you. Charles’ words were low but clear, however, you hadn’t heard a syllable. Your eyes were glued to the freshly covered grave and worried that next time it could be your fault.

Charles barely finished the eulogy before the group headed back to the mansion. Scott, Hank, and Ororo were stopped in the hall by students while you and Charles continued to the smaller kitchen off of his wing. Logan was already there with Colossus. 

Logan handed you his bottle of scotch and you poured yourself a drink before sliding the bottle back. “Thanks, Bub.”

“Anytime, Kid. How was it?”

“Charles gave a beautiful eulogy.”

Xavier snorted. “How would you know, Glass? Your thoughts were everywhere else.”

You lowered your eyes. “Sorry, Charles.”

“It’s quite alright, Glass. Between Captain America and the rogues on the run, Tony Stark almost having his tech stolen by the Vulture, and Vision disappearing every couple of months you have understandably been under a lot of stress.”

“Let’s not forget that the moment my glass wall completely shatters, I could kill someone like Jean did.”

The room was painfully quiet at your remark.

“Goddamnit. Sorry, Charles, that was in poor taste. I know Raven was your foster sister. I just can’t stop seeing the parallels.” You sighed and rubbed your face. “It’s just….. Ever since Pietro broke everyone out of the prison two years ago and Nat left to help them, I’ve felt more alone at the compound. Yeah, I have Tony and Rhodey. But Tony’s engaged to Pepper now and Rhodey is constantly being harassed by Secretary Ross for any updates on the rogues.”

Logan spoke quietly. “Then come back here. You’ll always have someone here to keep you company.”

You closed your eyes, wondering if that was the right course of action. But you knew in your heart you couldn’t leave Tony with an even smaller team than he already had.

But you didn’t get a chance to answer. An odd noise began to fill the kitchen, almost like a hiss. Opening your eyes, you watched as orange sparks appeared in an empty part of the room, expanding into a portal. 

A tall man with grey at his temples and a flowing cape strolled into the room. 

“Glass, I’m Dr. Stephen Strange. We need your help.” He then paused. “I apologize for the interruption. I know this is a sensitive time.”

You blinked and then looked at the X-Men. “You all see this, too, right?”

“Kinda hard to miss, Kid.” Logan slowly stood up.

Turning back to Dr. Strange, you raised an eyebrow. “Who’s we?”

Tony poked his head through the portal. “Hey, Glass. We really need you. This is big. Bruce is even back.”

Your glass dropped from your hand. “What?!”

Bruce appeared next to Tony. “Hey. We, uh, we really need you.”

Charles spoke up behind you. “Glass, you should go. This is what you saw in Loki’s head.”

You looked over at your friend. “Are you sure?”

“We’ll take care of Jean. You take care of the world.”

Nodding, you turned to follow everyone through the portal. You were instantly inside an older looking building with a grand staircase in the middle of the room - that had a hole in the middle of it towards the top. Bruce was pacing in obviously borrowed clothes while a shorter man in an odd set of robes stood nearby. And that’s when you really looked at Dr. Strange, who was also in a set of robes and a red cape.

“Alright, what’s this about?”

“Wong and I are Masters of the Mystic Arts, sworn to protect the world from multiple dimensions.” He gestured at the man standing there. 

You blinked. “Alright. So what’s coming to threaten us?”

“You’re not even going to question what that means?” Dr. Strange tried to take a measure of you. “You’re taking who we are rather well.”

“I’m a mutant. I turn invisible and I used to go to a school full of kids who can do the weird. Hell, one of the teacher’s younger sister has a nickname of Magik who can do interdimensional travel. If you guys want a reaction, you need to get a hell of a lot weirder.” You rolled your eyes. “Now, what are we up against?”

He nodded and Wong went into a visual presentation about the Infinity Stones, which you remember Thor talking about when Vision was created. When he was done, Tony spoke up.

“Tell me his name again.”

“Thanos,” Bruce sped over. “He’s like a plague, Tony. He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population. He sent Loki.” Both yours and Tony’s head snapped at attention. “The attack on New York, that’s him!”

“This is it. What’s our timeline?”

Bruce was in a frenzy now. “No telling. He has the Power and Space Stones. That already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe.”

Tony had started to pace but stopped to look at you. “But not the most powerful.”

“Stark, you know damn well that for me to beat a fucking Infinity Stone, I would have to bring my entire wall down. And that’s far too dangerous.”

Dr. Strange stepped up to you. “What’s he talking about?”

You pressed your lips together before answering. “I’m an Omega level mutant. My powers go beyond turning invisible. I am telepathic and telekinetic. For someone with my powers at my level, I can do literally anything I think of.”

“So getting back to the point at hand, if Thanos needs all six stones why don’t we have you destroy this one.” Tony gestured at Dr. Strange’s necklace that housed the Time Stone.

“No can do.” Dr. Strange answered before you could.

Wong cut in. “We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives.”

“And I swore off dairy, but then-”

“Stark,” you interrupted. “Not now.”

“Can we table this discussion for later?” Bruce cut in. “The fact is we have this stone. We know where it is. Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone and we have to find him now.”

Tony sighed and you looked away. You had no idea where Vision was, but you had a damn good guess who he was with.

“Yeah, that’s the thing.” Tony began. “Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder. He’s offline.”

“Tony, you lost another super-bot?”

“He’s not lost,” you chimed in. “He’s with Wanda. But God only knows where that could be.”

Dr. Strange looked between you and Tony. “Who could find Vision, then?”

Tony looked at you and sighed. “Steve Rogers. Maybe.”

“No maybe about it, if Vision is with Wanda. But Tony, only you know how to get a hold of him.” Tony tried to hand you the flip phone Steve had mailed to him two years prior. You shook your head. “No. You know I can’t do that.”

“What’s going on? Just call Steve.” Bruce looked over at you. “I thought you two… did you guys break up?”

“Steve and I? No. But that’s because we never dated. But the Avengers broke up as a whole.”

“Broke up? Like a band? Like the Beatles?”

“Steve and I had a falling out and then we found out he-” you stopped and blinked your eyes. “It was bad, Bruce. He hurt Tony even worse than me.”

Tony piped up. “Cap and I aren’t on speaking terms.”

Bruce’s eyes softened. “Glass, Tony, listen to me. Thor’s gone. Thanos is coming. It doesn’t matter who you’re talking to or not.”

Tony sighed and flipped his phone open. But before he could hit the call button, you placed a hand on his arm. He looked up at you but you were looking at Dr. Strange, who’s hair was faintly blowing around. Outside the building, you could hear a faint rumbling.

“Say, Doc, you wouldn’t happen to be moving your hair, would ya?”

“Not at the moment, no.”

You bolted to the door and flung it open, only to be greeted by high winds, mass chaos, and the rumbling at a much larger volume. Everyone followed behind you as you dashed down the street dodging cars and helping people who fell. Stark tapped into FRIDAY to get streets cut off and get First Responders on the scene. 

Your group rounded a corner and came face to face with a circular spaceship floating above the city, causing the massive amounts of wind that was blowing around. Dr. Strange conjured some orange bands around his wrists and sent them out, causing the wind to stop. Continuing down the street, you stopped when a light beam came down from the ship above and produced two completely different looking aliens. One was large with an ax and the other was at least two feet shorter, skinny, and carried himself with an arrogant air about him.

“Hear me and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing-”

You cut him off. “Meaningless? Listen, I have no idea what Kool-aid your cult leader is having you drink, but my life sure as shit ain’t meaningless.”

Tony spoke up. “I’m sorry. Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get outta here.”

“Stonekeeper,” the skinny alien now turned to Dr. Strange. “Do these chatter animals speak for you?”

“Certainly not. I speak for myself.” He conjured two small shields. “You’re trespassing in this city and on this planet.”

“He means get lost, Squidward.” You smirked at Tony’s sass.

The alien now leaned towards the taller one. “They exhaust me.”

He responded in an alien tongue.

“Bring me the stone.”

The ax was lowered and the larger one began to approach your group. Tony spoke up. “Banner, you wanna piece?”

“Mmm, no, not really. But when do I ever get what I want?”

But then Banner began to struggle with getting the Hulk to participate. You kept your eyes on the larger alien that was closing in while Tony tried to talk to Bruce. Finally, you cut in.

“Keep an eye on him, guys. I’ll take care of steroid boy.” And before anyone could stop you, your whole body began to glow and you stopped the alien in his tracks. 

The alien struggled against the invisible hold and you locked eyes with the skinny one behind him. There was a slightly annoyed look on his face.

“I don’t mean to be a bother, but I think this is yours.” You lifted up the larger alien and tossed it at the other one. Who merely waved his hand and his companion was tossed to the side. Ok, so he had telekinesis also. This should get interesting. “Stark, a little help?”

Tony pulled the hoodie strings on his workout suit and it instantly formed to his body. He then tapped the casing on his chest and his nanotech suit began to cover his body. As soon as the armor was formed, four parts branched off and created blasters that worked along with the ones on Tony’s hands. He fired at the skinny alien, who easily lifted a car to protect him from the blast. 

“Where did that come from?!” Bruce exclaimed.

“You like it? It’s nanotech. I made it-” But Tony was cut off by the ground shooting him into the air.

Wong made a large shield while Dr. Strange made a portal. “Dr. Banner, if your green friend won’t be joining us…”

And with that, Bruce was sent to another part of New York. The alien moved his hands and dozens of bricks that fell from the buildings surrounding the street lifted into the air. The bricks turned into very pointy cones and flew towards your group. You glowed brighter and the bricks crumbled into dust. Then, you lifted two cars and made to slam the alien in the middle of them. He put up his own barrier, but it almost wasn’t in time. A tire popped off and smacked him in the head. 

In anger, he flicked his hand at a fire hydrant and blasted Wong into a taxi. You made a jerking motion with your hand, but Dr. Strange’s necklace stayed put. He glanced at it before looking at you in disbelief. 

“Did you just try to pull the stone off of me?!”

“Yes! Unlike you, I can keep up a permanent bubble around me. So it’s either the necklace or all of you. I’ll let you decide.”

“I’m not some damsel in distress. I’ve put a simple spell on it, but it’s quite unbreakable.”

“Then I’ll take it off your corpse.” The alien growled. You were powerful, but the alien was experienced. He flicked you out of the way and pulled up cables to tie up Dr. Strange. Just as you were getting your barrings, Dr. Strange’s cloak pulled him out of his binding. Ok, a living cloak. That was a new one.

You tossed the alien down the street and flew after Dr. Strange, flying past Stark fighting the larger alien from earlier with Spiderman. The kid must have been nearby and saw the ship.

“Kid, that’s the Wizard. Get on it!” Tony called out.

“On it!” He began to swing from his webs alongside you. “Hi, Miss Glass!”

“Hey, Spiderman. I’ll distract the alien, you save the Wizard.”

“You got it!”

The skinny alien from earlier was catching up, using his own way to travel alongside. You abruptly turned on your heels and sent a large energy wave, knocking him off his small tornado he was riding. 

“Uh, Mr. Stark? Miss Glass? I’m being beamed up!”

Whipping around, you saw Strange and Parker being sucked up by the beam from the alien ship. 

“Hold on, kid!” You could hear Stark say, but since you couldn’t see him you took matters into your own hands.

You raced into the sky, your powers creating a protective bubble around you the higher up the atmosphere you traveled. “Still with us, Peter?”

“I can’t breathe!”

“You’re too high up. You’re running out of air.”

“Let go, Pete,” Tony had finally caught up to you both. “I’ll catch you.”

“But you said save the Wizard!” He pulled off his mask to try to breathe better. But he began to lose consciousness and let go of the spacecraft.

Before you could catch him, a missile hit him and began to form a nanotech version of his own Spiderman outfit. Peter caught himself on the side of the ship.

“Wow! Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car!”

“Happy trails, Kid. FRIDAY, send him home.”

A parachute opened on the back of the suit and Peter was pulled away. “AW C’MON!”

Stark used his suit to open a hole in the ship and then immediately closed it behind the two of you. As he fielded a call from Pepper, you led him to an upper ledge where you could get a better look at Dr. Strange tied up below. 

“Any ideas, Glass?”

“Yeah, but you’re not gonna like them.”


	15. Titan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Glass see what the galaxy has to offer.

“Ok, the moment you put a bubble around him, Flat Face is going to know we’re here.”

“And then I’ll go down and fight him.” Tony sighed. “What? You have a better idea?”

A movement out of the corner of your eye caused you both to turn abruptly, only to see it was Dr. Strange’s cape. Tony sighed again. “You are a seriously loyal piece of outerwear.”

“Yeah, speaking of loyal….”

Your jaw dropped at the fact of Peter catching you off guard. Clearly you had been too focused on the scene below. He repelled down on his spiderweb and proceeded to argue his point to Tony.

“Guys, can we not right now? It’s too late, the kid is already here.” You turned back to the scene below. “We really need an idea.”

“Ok, there’s your first mission, Kid. Go.”

“Uh….” Peter began to think. “Oh! You know that really old movie,  _ Aliens _ ?”

You blinked and looked at Stark. “Ok, next Avenger needs to be of legal age. I refuse to feel ancient while fighting for the earth.”

“Deal.”

You carefully placed a protective shield around Dr. Strange, to the point where it wrapped around him like a second skin. The alien began to monologue as Dr. Strange woke up, unaware that his thin, glass-like needles he was using to torture Strange would have no effect. 

“In all the time I’ve served Thanos, I have never failed him.” He slowly approached Strange. “If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person, there would be judgment.”

The needles moved closer.

“Give me. The stone.” He smiled until the needle stopped just shy of puncturing Strange’s skin. The alien grunted, trying to use his powers to push the needle in. But your shield held firm.

You shimmered into view, appearing between the alien and Strange. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to take other people’s things?”

“Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine.” Stark dropped down behind the alien and he turned to address him. “And you save nothing.”

“Yeah, but the Kid’s seen more movies.” A tiny weapon popped up on Tony’s left shoulder and shot at the wall. 

Your shield instantly expanded to hold Dr. Strange in place as the alien was sucked into the vacuum of space. Dr. Strange swayed with you as the suction tried to take you as well.

“Stark! The hole!” You gritted your teeth in concentration, your body glowing. 

He instantly sealed the hull and you relaxed, slowly lowering Strange to his feet. 

“Are you ok?” You turned towards the wizard.

“Yes. Thank you for the protection.”

“Glad I was able to give it. Not the first time I’ve fought an alien with telepathy, but at least this one was straight forward about fighting me.”

“We gotta turn this ship around.”

Tony strolled over, retracting his suit. “Yeah, now he wants to run. Great plan.”

You sighed. “Stark.”

“No, I want to protect the stone,” Strange countered.

“Who just saved your magical ass?”

“Technically, me.” You quipped. 

“And me.” Tony turned back to Stephen. “Admit it, you should have ducked out when I told you to.”

“Unlike everyone else in your life, I don’t work for you.”

“And due to that fact, we’re now in a flying doughnut billions of miles from Earth with no backup.”

Peter dropped down and raised his hand. “I’m back up.”

“No, you’re a stowaway.”

“And I’m chopped liver.” You rolled your eyes. “Hello, Earth to normal human! You have a wizard-”

“Master of the Mystic Arts.” Strange corrected automatically.

“Right. A kid with superpowers, and an omega mutant.”

“Yeah, I can help!” Peter pipped up again.

Tony waved his hand. “The adults are talking.”

Strange shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m confused as his relationship to you. What is he, your ward?”

You snickered as Peter reached out his hand. “No. I’m Peter, by the way.” 

“Dr. Strange.”

“Oh, you’re using our made-up names. Um… I’m Spiderman and she’s Glass.”

“No, Peter,” you sighed. “That’s not… you know what? Nevermind.” 

Tony was now looking out the massive front window. “The ship’s self-correcting. Thing’s on autopilot.”

“Can we control it?” Strange walked over. “Fly us home?”

“I could.” You strolled up to the massive controls. “Even without Stark’s help. I could override the control panel.”

“I’m thinking I’m not so sure we should,” Tony spoke quietly.

“Oh, I know that look. I don’t even need to read your thoughts to know I won’t like this.”

“Under no circumstances can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos.”

“Gotta agree with him, Stark. I know you mean well-”

“No. You both don’t understand that Thanos has been inside my head for the past six years.”

“Excuse you?!” You strolled up into Tony’s face. “Who was the one who saw everything in Loki’s mind right after the attack on New York? Don’t think for one second you’ve carried this burden alone. I know you crossed the other side of the wormhole, but I’ve seen things you couldn’t even begin to imagine.”

Tony rubbed his face. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Glass. I just don’t know what to do. So I’m not so sure if it’s a better plan to fight him on our turf or his, but you saw what they did. What they can do. At least on his turf, he’s not expecting it. And you won’t have to hold back.”

You looked away, but you knew Stark was making sense.

“So I say we take the fight to him. Doctor. Glass. Do you concur?”

You could feel both sets of eyes on you. “Fuck me. I hate to say it, but he’s right. We need to head to Titan.”

Strange watched you both for a long moment before responding. “All right, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand if it comes to saving either of you or the kid or the Time Stone I will not hesitate to let any of you die. I can’t because the universe depends on it.”

You raised an eyebrow as Stark answered. 

“Nice. Good, moral compass. We’re straight.” He then walked up to Peter and made a motion with his hand as if he was knighting him. “All right, Kid. You’re an Avenger now."

The ride to Titan wasn’t long; it only felt like an eternity due to the tension between Stark and Strange. Peter noticed the arrival first.

“What’s going on?”

“I think we’re here.” Dr. Strange answered.

“Ok, boys.” You strolled until you were in between the two controls meant to be steered by one large alien. “Please make sure all tray tables are locked, seats in their upright position, and all electronics stowed away. Thank you for flying Mutant Air and I hope you enjoy your stay on Titan.”

“Smartass,” Tony smirked.

“I learned from the best.” 

“I don’t think this rig has a self-park function.”

“Never fear. If I can fly the Quinjet without even being in it, this shouldn’t be too hard.” Glowing, you moved the two controls as if they were one. 

“Ok, Glass. Just ease her down gently.” The ship rocked. “More so than that.”

“It’s not me. The gravity on this planet is off. Like it’s stronger in some places on the surface. This won’t be as easy as I had hoped. Something has really fucked up this planet."

Your glow intensified as you struggled to fight your way first through the uneven atmosphere and then against the sporadic gravity of the planet. Large floating objects began to block your path and you quickly used your powers to avoid each one as they sprung up. 

Dr. Strange produced a shield to cover all four of you. You did one better and covered the whole ship.

“And I thought Stark was a show-off.” 

“You can see it?” You breathed.

“No, but I can feel it. Like a faint shimmer in the air.”

“Well, better to be safe than sorry. This landing is looking to be rough.” You barely missed a former building as you landed, the ship skidding to a halt. Dropping your shield and your glow, you turned to your companions. “Well, the ship is still in one piece so at least we’ll have a ride back home.”

“Good job, Glass. You ok, Pete?”

“Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something and I eat one of you, I’m sorry.”

“I do not want another single pop culture reference out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?”

“Stark, that’s the pot calling the kettle black.” You jerk your head to the side before your eyes glowed. “Watch out!”

A grenade rolled into the middle of your group and you instantly smothered the blast. Another blast opened a hole in the side, and three aliens rolled through - one brandishing two guns. You ripped them away and flung them to the other side of the ship. In retaliation, he tossed a metal object at you that you easily deflected. It hit Stark and the alien laughed, activating a controller. Stark instantly became a giant magnet, sticking to a pillar in the ship.

“Thanos!” Screamed the larger, grey alien with red lines all over his body. He chucked two knives and Dr. Strange blocked them with a shield. His cloak instantly left to cover the alien’s head.

“Please don’t lay your eggs in me!” You saw Parker try to crawl away from another alien with bug-like antennas on her head. He shot webs at her.

The one you took the guns from activated his boots and was flying towards you.

“ENOUGH!” You lifted into the air and the three aliens followed. “You will state your purpose or I will end this fight for good!”

“Go ahead. I can take it!” Cried out the grey alien, his face finally free of Strange’s cloak.

The one with the boots managed to reach up and removed his helmet. You were surprised to see how human he looked. “Everybody just chill the eff out. I’m only gonna ask this one time. Where is Gamora?”

Tony pulled his helmet off. “I’ll do you one better: who is Gamora?”

“I’ll do  _ you _ one better: why is Gamora?”

You raised an eyebrow at the large, grey creature.

The human-like alien tried to struggle out of your invisible grip. “Tell me where the girl is or I swear to you I’ll break free and beat it out of you.”

“Nice try, but there has yet to be a creature alive that can beat my powers.” You pulled him closer. “But seriously, who is Gamora? And what the hell makes you think we have her?”

“Oh, you don’t want to tell me? That’s fine. I’m gonna break free, kill all three of you, and beat it out of Thanos myself.”

“Wait what? Thanos? You think we work for Thanos?”

“All right, let me ask you this one time,” Strange approached the floating group. “What master do you serve?”

“What master do I serve?” He was as confused as you. “What am I supposed to say? ‘Jesus’?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “You’re from Earth.”

“I’m not from Earth, I’m from Missouri.”

“That’s on Earth, dumbass.” You sighed. “What are you hassling us for. Isn’t it obvious we’re humans?!”

“Never known a human to glow.”

“Well, I don’t know any other humans just chilling with aliens so I think that makes us even.”

“So you’re not with Thanos?” Peter asked the trio tentatively.

“With Thanos? No, we’re not with Thanos. Wait, who are you people?”

“We’re the Avengers.” You lowered the trio to the ground. “Who the hell are you guys?”

“The Guardians of the Galaxy. Clearly you’ve heard of us.” The guy responded. 

“Can’t say that we have.” The guy did a double-take. 

The alien with the antennas tried to jump towards you - she was still in Parker’s webs. “Avengers? You’re the ones Thor told us about.”

“Wait, you know Thor? Where is he?”

“Nidavellir. Said something about a Thanos-killing weapon.” The guy responded.

“I hope he’s quick about it.”


	16. Thanos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glass tests her limits

“What the hell happened to this planet?” Quill held up a yellow tube that glowed. “It’s eight degrees off its axis. Gravitational pull is all over the place.”

“Would explain why I had a hard time landing that ship.” You walked over the rocky terrain to Tony.

“Yeah, we got one advantage. He’s coming to us.” Stark turned to face you. “We’ll use it. All right, I have a plan.”

“Please tell me it’s something beyond me holding him at bay like I did the Hulk while you try to rip his gauntlet off.”

“Ok, so I have the beginnings of a plan.” You rolled your eyes as Quill, Drax, Mantis, and Parker came over. “It’s pretty simple. We draw him in, Glass will pin him down, we get what we need. Definitely don’t want to dance with this guy.”

There was a pause and then Tony got snippy at Drax.

“Are you yawning? In the middle of this, while I’m breaking it down?”

“Yeah, see not winging it is not really what they do,” Quill commented.

“What exactly is it, that they do?” Parker questioned. 

“Kick names. Take ass.” Mantis tried her best to be intimidating.

“Did I just have a stroke? Does anyone smell toast?” You questioned as you looked over at Tony, who had the look on his face of knowing you would lose before the fight could even start. “What the hell is going on?”

“Ok, let’s just focus on us. We’re not getting any help from Flash Gordon and his crew.”

“Flash Gordon, by the way, is a compliment. And I’m half-human. So the half that’s stupid, is a hundred percent you.” Quill ended confidently.

“Your math is blowing my mind.” Tony rolled his eyes.

“I was wrong. It has to be an aneurysm.” You began to rub your temples.

“Excuse me,” Mantis tentatively interrupted. “But, does your friend often…. Do that?”

The group turned to Dr. Strange, who was sitting criss-cross, floating six inches above the ground, and had a green glow about him as his head jerked around.

“Strange, we all right?” Tony slowly walked over.

He floated a moment longer then dropped, gasping as his eyes opened. Tony caught him before he could fall over, heavily panting from the spell he preformed.

“You’re back. You’re here.” Tony sat him back up.

“I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all possible outcomes of the coming conflict.”

You gasped, but no one heard as they were focused on Strange. Who was doing what he could to avoid your eyes.

“How many did you see?” Quill seemed nervous to find the answer.

“14,000,605.”

Tony took a deep breath. “How many did we win?”

Now Strange met your eyes. “One.”

_ No _

_ You saw what I just did. If you can find another path, I’m behind you one hundred percent. _

_ There may be one other path. _

_ But you know what the aftermath will lead to. _

_ May. _

_ No. Will.  _

_ No. It only will be if we go with your 1 in 14,000,605 chance. _

_ You can’t change the future. _

_ You’re thinking of the past, Strange. _

You jolted as Tony put a hand on your shoulder. “You ok, Glass?”

“Yeah, I’m just cherry.” The group watched as you walked away. 

It didn’t take long for Stark to get everyone in their positions. Except for you. He trusted you to know where you would fit best. Especially after you accidentally read Dr. Strange’s mind. While Tony knew you saw something that shook you, he also knew - deep in his heart - that no one could handle it better than you. Whatever this curve was.

Dr. Strange found an old stairway to a long-forgotten building to take a seat and you stood by. He barely glanced over at you.

“Not going to hide like the others?”

“No, not like the others. It will be smart to have me nearby.”

“It won’t feel that way if Thanos takes you out with that gauntlet before you can even blink.”

You smirked. “If he could hit me.”

Dr. Strange looked at you like you were out of your mind. Until you shimmered out of view. “Oh! For a moment I almost thought you were as crazy as Stark.”

You chuckled. “Stark’s not crazy. He’s just forced to work with a team that shares one brain cell.”

Before Strange could reply, there was a weird noise in the air. And twenty feet from you and Strange, a blue cloud formed. And from that cloud walked a very tall - very purple - man, dressed in blue and gold. With a large golden gauntlet on his left hand. 

And on top of the gauntlet were four brilliant stones. Four of the six stones were already in his possession. Your group - and the universe as a whole - were royally fucked.

“Oh yeah,” Dr. Strange picked up a rock from the ground and tossed it in his hand. “You’re much more of a Thanos.”

Thanos turned his head to notice Strange just sitting there, very calmly. “I take it the Maw is dead.”

Strange nodded his head.

“This day extracts a heavy toll.” Thanos began a slow walk towards Strange. You moved so you would end up behind Thanos. But at a safe distance for the plan. “Still, he accomplished his mission.”

“You may regret that. He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts.”

Thanos’s voice was deep and calm as he responded to Strange. You tuned the two of them out as you moved closer to position.

Well, you tried to tune him out. Until he used the gauntlet to transform the wasteland into his former home. It was the second time you’d seen the power of a stone at work. And it did nothing to ease your fear.

For the first time in two years, you wished Steve was there.

Strange’s words brought you back to the present. “Congratulations, you’re a prophet.”

“I’m a survivor.”

“Who wants to murder trillions.”

“With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers. They would all cease to exist. I call that mercy.”

This guy was insane. There was no way you could beat someone like this. Not unless….

You shook your head as Strange responded. “And then what?”

“I’d finally rest and watch the sunrise on a grateful universe.” 

Grateful? This lunatic hadn’t even considered that the thing he should be doing is doubling all space and resources. Not killing half of everyone.

“The hardest choices require the strongest wills.” 

Strange stood up and produced two shields. “I think you’ll find our will equal to yours.”

“Ours?”

Before Thanos could react, Stark pushed a giant pilar from above onto Thanos.

“Piece of cake, Quill.” Stark flew by.

“Yeah, if your goal was to piss him off.” Quill activated his helmet and his flying boots. 

The pilar erupted in purple energy and you put up a shield to try to contain it. But blue light soon joined and you were tossed back. Thanos’s gauntlet then glowed red and all the debris turned into bats, flying at Stark.

Parker nailed Thanos in the eye with a spider web, but it was quickly pulled off. As Strange used a portal to get closer, Drax tried to slash at Thanos. Strange came at him with a sword made of magic and began to fight as you used your powers to have Quill hop around in the air. He used your last burst to flip over Thanos and stick a device on his back.

“Boom!” Quill flipped off Thanos before dropping backward through one of Strange’s portals.

The device went off and Strange’s cloak wrapped itself around the gauntlet. You immediately lifted Thanos off his feet while Strange began to produce portals on both sides of Thanos.

“Magic!” Parker shouted as he jumped out one portal to punch Thanos in the face. Then disappeared on the other side only to pop up again to flip over Thanos’s head and kick him in the gut. “More magic!”

The motion made you drop Thanos.

“Magic with a kick! Magic with a-”

Thanos grabbed Parker around the neck and slammed him into the ground. “Insect.”

He tossed Parker into Strange and ripped the cloak off. While you ran to make sure they were both ok, Stark began to assault Thanos with a barrage of firepower from his suit. Thanos used the gauntlet to suck the fire in and then shoot it back out at Stark. Before you could even think of attacking, a small space ship mowed him over as it landed.

A blue alien leaped out and punched Thanos in the face. She landed and then produced a baton-style weapon that crackled with electricity.

“Well, well.” Thanos almost looked impressed.

“You should have killed me.” She grunted.

“It would have been a waste of parts!” 

She began a tirade of attacks on him. “Where’s Gamora?!”

Thanos backhanded her and she flew several feet away. Strange sent out a cluster of red, glowing ribbons to wrap around the gauntlet. You jumped in front of Thanos and shimmered into view as you held all his limbs away from him. He tried not to act shocked at the sight of a glowing person that appeared out of thin air.

Strange let go to produce a portal for Mantis to fall though, landing on Thanos’s shoulders. She grabbed his head and put him in a trance. 

“Is he under? Don’t let up.”

“Be quick,” she panted, “he’s very strong.”

“I got this,” you stretched and flexed your powers until you could separate a single strand to work independently. The gauntlet began to slowly peel off.

“Parker, give her a hand.” 

Mantis was right: he was very strong. Even without using the gauntlet, it was hard to hold him at bay. He was stronger than any other creature you had ever encountered. Even Ultron and he had been a robot. 

_ CRACK! _

You felt a giant fissure in your wall. If they didn’t hurry, it was going to come down. Fast.

“GET IT OFF HIM NOW!”

Quill flew over while Parker struggled to help you get the gauntlet off. “I thought you’d be hard to catch. For the record, this was my plan.”

“Quill shut the fuck up and help them! My wall is going to fall!”

He ignored you while Tony rushed to help Parker. Along with Strange.

“You’re not so strong now, huh?” Quill got right into Thanos’s face. “Where is Gamora?”

“My Gamora,” Thanos grunted.

“No, bullshit! Where is she?”

You were trying your best not to look. But Mantis’s words made it impossible. “He is in anguish. He- he mourns.”

And just like that, you saw what Thanos’s had done. What he sacrificed. All for a stone.

Quill’s words brought you out of Thanos’s head. “No! You! Didn’t!”

His words were punctuated with punching Thanos in the face with his gun. The force caused Mantis to let go and his anger along with Quill’s punched you in the head.

Thanos was free.

He slipped the gauntlet back on and began to attack your group, with more force than before. Stark came at him with a sword made from his armor, but Thanos tossed him off like a bug. Then he made a fist as he pointed towards the moon that was visible through the broken atmosphere. The gauntlet glowed and the moon cracked and burned. He brought down his fist and with it, pieces of the moon. 

You jumped right in front of Stark.

“Glass, no!”

But you were already glowing and each meteorite stopped mere feet above your head. You glared at Thanos and swung your arms forward, causing the moon to fly straight at him. He used the gauntlet to destroy the meteorites he had just created. 

Thanos then aimed all four stones straight at your heart.

“GLASS!”

But you were faster than Thanos had anticipated and met the four streams head-on with a power stream of your own. The rest of your group couldn’t look on. Between the glow of the gauntlet and the glow from your powers, it was hard to see the fight. 

Thanos struggled against you, pushing harder and harder with the stones. You could feel your powers straining against what was left of your wall, begging to let Thanos have it. To let them have control.

But Thanos made the choice for you, moving his gauntlet up to your head a fraction before you could predict it.

When you awoke, Parker was crouched over you. “Oh, Miss Glass! You’re alive! Mr. Stark, she’s alive!”

He helped you sit up and you touched your throbbing head. “Thanks, Peter.”

Looking over, you could see Stark using his armor to patch a large, nasty wound on his side. You crawled over.

“Here.” You placed your hand on his side and used your powers to stop the bleeding and close up the wound. “It may not last long. We’ll need to get you on the ship for first aid.”

Tony didn’t seem to hear you.

“Stark? What’s wrong?” You looked up at Peter. “What happened?”

“We lost,” Quill answered.

Your breath hitched and you let Parker help Stark to his feet. The rest of the group limped over.

“Something’s happening,” Mantis looked pained.

Then before you could fully register what was happening, she broke down into ash and floated off.

You gasped as Drax spoke up. “Quill?”

Soon he was gone as well.

“Oh man,” Quill had pure fear on his face.

“Steady Quill,” Tony tried to reach for him, but Quill was gone in the wind as well.

“Tony,” you both turned to look at Strange. “There was no other way.”

He locked eyes with you as he faded away.  _ You know what needs to be done. _

“Mr. Stark?” Your heart sank. Not him. Oh please, not the kid!

Peter approached you both in staggering steps.

“I don’t feel so good.” He fell into Tony’s arms.

Your heart ripped in half as you watched Peter beg for his life, before disappearing in Tony’s arms.

Thanos had won. And in that moment, you hoped Steve had made it out alive. Everything else had been forgotten: what Strange saw, the fact that you were probably stuck on a deserted planet, even your wall.

At that moment, you needed Steve. 


	17. What If The Storm Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are put into perspective.

Twenty-two days. 

It was still hard to wrap your head around it, even as you stared out the massive window. But it was true. It had been twenty-two days. 

Stark was keeping track in his helmet.

At first, your tiny group was slightly optimistic. Nebula - the blue alien that had crashed the fight towards the end - had been surly at first, but Stark soon warmed her to the two of you. She helped monitor his wound in the side, which had developed a mild infection but soon ran its course. And she and Tony went to work on the fuel cells that were cracked during the battle. But it only bought you forty-eight hours of flight time. 

So you had volunteered yourself.

“No. Absolutely not. No way in hell are you pushing the ship.”

“You have another idea, fearless leader? We can’t exactly drift through space for the rest of our lives. Which won’t be long.”

“How in the hell do you plan on getting momentum? This isn’t earth where you have gravity working for you.”

“I have to try. I can’t just….” You trailed off and Tony didn’t need you to finish. If anything, had his suit not been damaged beyond simple repair, he would have joined you out there.

“We don’t have any space suits,” Nebula noted in her growling voice. “We can tether you, but you won’t last five minutes.”

“I’ll last longer than that. I can make my own suit with my powers.” 

But Tony had been right. Without gravity to give your powers something to grasp, you didn’t have much success. You had tried to push yourself off the nearest celestial body, but nothing was close enough to allow you to push the ship more than two clicks.

You hated feeling useless. But there was nothing that could be done. Your powers automatically began to slow down your metabolism so that you wouldn’t need as much food or water. And in return, you made Tony eat more. Nebula passed off extra food to him as well. Being mostly machine made it easier to survive what would come next. But still you and Tony grew thin and weak.

He was off in a corner recording a message for Pepper and it sent a pang in your heart that you couldn’t do the same for Steve.

Steve. Had he survived? No doubt the rogue Avengers had fought Thanos. Had he survived that? The snap? Had any of them?

When you first boarded the ship, you and Tony snooped around to get a good idea of your inventory. Nebula had a base idea of what Quill may have on his ship, but not much since she hadn’t spent any real time on it. During your search, you came across a Zune which Nebula told you was probably Quill’s since he had a great love for music.

A Zune. You didn’t think these things existed anymore since most people on earth had an iPod/iPhone, and Android, or Stark Tech. Of course, the only Zune left to humanity would be in deep space. 

Now you pulled it out and plug the headphones in. You took a seat against the wall and put on a song from Snow Patrol, taking inventory of your own self. When you had fought alongside Tony and the others - in what felt like a lifetime ago - you had come straight from Raven’s funeral at the mansion. Now your outfit was in tatters from two different fights, a spaceship crash, and trying to fly in space. The heels you had worn were no doubt somewhere on the streets of New York in a pile of rubble, your pants ripped shreds from mid-calf down with holes in the knees, your white button-up was beyond saving and had been used for bandages for you and Tony and now you sat in your bra with your blazer on. If you ever had to fight again, you would have to figure out a way to keep your suit with you as Stark does. You had been so focused on defeating Thanos, you hadn’t thought to protect yourself.

_ What if the storm ends? _

_ It leaves us nothing _

_ Except the memory _

_ A distant echo _

The song did nothing to ease your pain, but it was almost as if you needed it. A possible goodbye to the ending you may not get. Probably won’t get. Even if Steve had survived, you and Tony won’t. The oxygen was going to run out tomorrow and you were nowhere near a hospitable planet.

_ What if the storm ends? _

_ And I don’t see you _

_ As you are now _

_ Ever again _

_ The perfect halo _

_ Of gold hair and lightning _

_ Sets you off against _

_ The planet’s last dance _

Tears were running down your face and Nebula awkwardly handed you a cloth. You just nodded, knowing a verbal thanks would embarrass her. She began to move over to where Stark now laid on the floor next to his helmet. Getting to your feet, you stopped her from moving him.

“I’ll take care of him.”

She nodded and stepped aside. You went to lift him with your powers but you began to stumble on your feet, making you realize you were far weaker than you had wanted to admit. Your powers could either hold you up or Tony, it could no longer do both. So instead you curled up next to him on the floor. If you both were lucky, you’d be asleep when the oxygen runs out and wouldn’t have to deal with the panic of dying.

Just as you were about to nod off, a bright yellow glow began to fill the cabin. You tried to squeeze your eyes against the light.

Tony groaned. “Glass, turn your glow down.”

“It’s not me. I don’t have the energy to even make my eyes glow.”

He stirred and tried to sit up. You pushed yourself up to help him and stopped in your movements. The light was receding and in the middle of the glow was a person.

“I know we’re starving and dying, but are you seeing a person outside the ship? Without a spacesuit?”

“Asks the person who also went outside the ship without a suit.”

“Touché.” Gathering the last of your strength, you attempted to read her thoughts.

_ It’s ok. The Avengers sent me. Rocket told me how to find the ship. _

_ Rocket? You know what, never mind. Who are you? _

_ Carol Danvers. Now, let’s get you three home. _

You dropped back down onto the ground next to Tony, the last of your energy gone. He dropped down next to you and pulled you in for a hug. Or rather to keep you both warm as now you were both too skinny to retain body heat. The longer you knew Tony the more he became that older brother you had always wanted. He and Pepper had been a comfort while Steve had been on the run. And now - unless this Danvers was a very fast alien - you were probably going to die with him. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save us, Kiddo.”

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. You were right: I should have dropped my wall to fight him. I let the fear of my powers control me. And we lost because of it.”

“We lost because we weren’t a team. We didn’t even get the X-Men involved.”

You were about to contradict him, but there was a sudden lurch from the ship. Turning your heads, you could see out the window all the stars flying by at an incredible speed.

“Maybe we’ll make it, after all, Tin Man.”

“Maybe, Stain Glass.”

The ride was far quicker than either of you predicted and soon Carol was holding the ship as she guided it to the ground outside the Avengers Compound. Nebula helped you and Tony to your feet. Tony swayed at his feet and you wrapped an arm around his waist, your powers struggling to hold both of you up. Nebula got his other side and the three of you made your way to the back of the ship and down the ramp. 

Outside, Nat, Bruce, Rhodey, and Pepper waited as Steve ran up to your group. Nebula let go and Tony began to fall. You grabbed him with your powers only to stumble yourself. Steve caught you in his arms as Rhodey stepped up to grab Tony.

“_____, are you alright?” 

When was the last time Steve called you by your name? You couldn’t even remember.

Tony breathed the words you struggled with. “We couldn’t stop him.”

“Neither could we, ” Steve responded.

“Hang on,” Tony made Rhodey stop walking him. He took a deep breath and spoke to Steve. “I lost the kid.”

Your body was too close to death to even produce the tears for mourning. 

Steve tried to keep it together. “Tony, we lost.”

You could see Tony wanted to ask about Pepper, but she beat him to the punch by running up to him. There were dry tears from Stark and full ones from Pepper as they embraced, both lucky to still have the other.

Steve looked down at you and you could see tears threatening to leave his eyes. “We thought-” he cleared his throat. “I thought I lost you.”

You gave a weak smile. “I’m not out of the woods yet, Cap.”

Seeing you with new eyes, he lifted you into his arms and carried you effortlessly into the compound. There, both you and Tony were given clean clothes, wheelchairs, and an IV to slowly give you back your strength. Nat brought you both bowls of soup as Rhodey began to explain what happened.

“It’s been twenty-three days since Thanos came to Earth.” 

All around the room were projections of the people lost. 

_ Dr. Strange _

_ Bucky _

_ Peter Parker _

_ Shuri _

_ Sam _

_ Scott Lang _

_ Colossus _

_ Scott Summers _

To name a few. But when the next face appeared on a screen, you would have screamed if you had an ounce of energy to do so.

_ Professor Xavier _

How were the X-Men fairing without their prominent father figure?

Nat’s voice interrupted your thoughts. “World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census and it looks like he did…. He did exactly what he set out to do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures.”

There was a pause and you looked around the room, noticing Thor for the first time alone in a corner. 

“Where is he now? Where?” Tony broke the silence.

“We don’t know,” Steve sighed. “He just opened a portal and walked through.”

You pointed at Thor. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Oh, he’s pissed.” You looked over and saw a talking raccoon. Is this what hunger does to you? Make you hallucinate? The creature continued, “he thinks he failed. Which of course he did but there’s a lot of that going around, ain’t there?”

Tony’s jaw dropped. “Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear.”

“Maybe I am.”

“And here I thought I was hallucinating from hunger.” You shook your head.

Steve brought the conversation back around. “We’ve been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep space scans and satellites and we got nothing. You both fought him.”

“Who told you that?” Tony began to get angry. “We didn’t fight him. What happened was he tried to wipe my face with a moon as Glass struggled against Infinity Stones while the Bleaker Street Magician gave away the store. That’s what happened. There was no fight.”

“Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything? Glass, did you read his mind?

You scoffed. “Clearly you’ve watched too many clichéd action movies where the villain monologues his evil plans and where his lair can be found. WHY THE FUCK WOULD THANOS TELL US WHERE HE WAS GOING DURING A SLAUGHTER, ROGERS?! Better yet, did he tell you? Vision had the last stone so if anyone should have played the clichéd hero, it should have been you!”

“I saw this coming a few years back,” Tony muttered mostly to himself. “I had a vision. I didn’t want to believe it. Thought I was dreaming.”

“Tony, Glass, I”m gonna need you to focus.”

"And I needed you. _ She _needed you,” Stark pointed at you. “As in, past tense. That trumps what you need. It’s too late, buddy.”

You weren’t sure why yet - maybe exhaustion - but Tony’s words hit you.

He sniffed and moved his hand, hitting his soup bowl. “You know what I need? I need a shave.” He went to stand up. “And I believe I remember telling all ya’s-”

“Tony, Tony!” Rhodey tried to stop him from ripping out the IV. 

“Alive and otherwise, that what we needed was a suit of armor around the world. Remember that? That we need to band together and protect our people. To protect our mutants. Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not. That’s what we needed.”

“Well, that didn’t work out did it?” Steve tried to remain calm.

“No shit, Sherlock,” you spoke up from your wheelchair. “Because you felt you knew better than me how to protect my kind. But you couldn’t even protect yourself, Rogers.”

“I said we’d lose.” Tony cut back in. “You said, ‘we’ll do that together, too.’ And guess what, Cap? We lost. And you weren’t there. For the team. For anyone. But that’s what we do, right? We’re the ‘Avengers,’ not the ‘Pre-vengers.’”

Rhodey tried to calm Tony down and your throat began to close up. Because Tony was right. You had missed Steve while you were dying in space, but the fact is you may not have been in that position if he had just kept the team together.

“You made your point, just sit down.” Rhodey tried pushing Tony back into his chair.

“No, no, here’s my point. You know what? I got nothing for you, Cap. Why Glass is still in love with you after the way you deserted us is beyond me. I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust, liar.” He then ripped off his nano casing and slapped it into Steve’s hand. “Here, you take this. You find him, you put that on, you hide.”

Tony then dropped to his knees. You launched up without even thinking and used your powers to keep him from falling the rest of the way. Unfortunately, that was more than you could spare. You dropped down unconscious next to him.


	18. Five Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life after the snap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains dialogue prompts sent by MaddieGaines, which will be bolded.
> 
> Also, sorry for the delay! My father had heart surgery (he's fine, it all went well). I also started up my Instagram/Facebook food channel again since Covid has thwarted my ability to start my restaurant.
> 
> I am going to try to be more frequent with my updates.
> 
> Also, this note will appear on all my next WIP updates if you read more than one.

You shuffled the papers on the desk, making a pile of potential new students for the school. Even after all this time, you were still coming across people who had nowhere to go after the snap. 

It had been hard keeping the school afloat at first. After Thanos, anyone with surviving family was immediately called home. Even long-established teachers had left to find any survivors. The ones without family - in one way or another - stayed behind. The staff was now reduced to you, Logan, Anne Marie, and Remy. Ororo went back to Africa, first checking Cairo then Wakanda, before other countries there that needed help. 

The school felt so empty at times.

The doors to the office burst open and Wade came marching in, bitching. “You can’t keep me a prisoner here!”

Then other times it felt you couldn’t have a moment alone.

“Wilson, what in fresh hell are you talking about? No one is a prisoner here. Least of all you.”

“Don’t give me that shit! You and Wolfie get to come and go as you please-”

“So can you.”

“No interrupting, Nancy Grace!”

“That doesn’t even make any sense.”

**“So I-”**

**“If you open your mouth one more time, I’ll call Captain America.” **You put the paperwork aside, knowing that while Wade was there, nothing would get done. “Make him drag your ass to one of his PTSD recovery groups.”

“That’s rich coming from you, Katniss Everdeen. You’re practically the poster child for PTSD and I don’t see your ass going to those meetings.” He plopped down in a chair on the other side of the desk. “You can try to hide it all you want by sitting in the Professor’s spot and banging Wolverine, but it’s all over your face.”

“And now you think you can drag my personal life into this conversation? **Is there something you need to tell me?”**

**“Just that- that- you’re an insufferable bagel butt!”**

You just blinked at Deadpool.** “So...that’s more confusing than offensive, but like, you know, good try. You’ll get there next time. And, uh-** ** _ how dare you_ ** **?”**

“Listen, I get it. You and Logan need to find a way to forget about the people you can’t have. I would have thought someone like Ryan Reynolds was more your type, but clearly you like them big and dumb.”

“I double-dog dare you to call Logan dumb to his face.” Deciding work was no longer an option as Wade was going to on whatever tangent was rolling through his mind, you got up and grabbed a bottle of vodka and two glasses. “What the hell is with you? Even your insults are off.”

“Cable won’t take me on his mission.”

You sighed as you handed him a glass. “You know Cable prefers to work alone. And it doesn’t help that in a time like this he misses his wife and daughter from the future. Not to mention, he lost his dad in the snap. And that’s a statement I will never get over.”

“But he has me!”

“No doubt a comforting thought,” you downed your glass. “Listen, I know you miss Vanessa-”

Wade gasped. “How dare you mention her!”

You ignored him, “but you can’t sit in here all cooped up. Didn’t Weasel survive? Go bug him for a few days.”

He was quiet for a long moment and it had you worried. He tried to hide it behind his snide remarks and sarcasm, but the snapped affected him as badly as everyone else. Wade was once a non-stop shit-talker, acting as if he was in a movie by narrating to an imaginary audience, making remarks that made little sense. But losing Vanessa had muted him, even more, and more each year since he couldn’t die and join her. Wherever it is that the snapped people went.

“You know what confuses me? You and Wolfie. I get him running into your arms - even though I’m here. With Jean off being Sailor Moon on some distant planet, Logan needed to forget. But Captain Do-Gooder is still alive and still around after the snap. What gives?”

Pouring yourself more vodka, you weighed your next words. Never in a million years did you think you would have a serious conversation with Wade Wilson of all people. “First off, Logan and I aren’t dating. It’s not even remotely serious. When the loneliness gets to be too much, that’s when we find each other. Second, Steve and I were never a thing. I had always hoped he would see me the way I saw him, but he was too busy doing what he felt was right instead of what needed to be done. It almost cost my freedom and it cost the universe half of everything. Logan knows I still love Steve just as I know he still loves Jean. If she miraculously came back or Steve finally got his head out of his ass, there would be no hard feelings.”

“You need a vacation.”

“The entire universe needs a vacation.”

He finished his glass and poured more. “Do you think it will ever be fixed?”

“Dr. Strange seemed to think so. Way back when we were on Titan. But the way it has to happen - the path that needs to be set in motion - I’ve seen less convoluted plots in a comic book.”

“So what now?”

“Now, I finish my paperwork. I’m heading to Stark’s cabin tomorrow for lunch. I may even swing by the compound to see how Natasha is doing.”

“You taking your wolf with you?”

“Hell no. Someone needs to keep an eye on your dumbass.”

“Well!” Wade acted offended and stood up in a huff. “I don’t have to sit here and be insulted.”

“By all means, leave. I’m sure Logan and Cable will insult you in any room you choose.”

“You know what-” But he was cut off by a flick of your hand, sending him across the room and out the door. You heard him smack against the hallway wall. “Cheater!”

The next day, you landed just outside Stark’s property, opting to fly rather than drive up. You had intended to swing by the compound beforehand, but Nat had been busy with an intergalactic call with Rocket. Hopefully, you could catch her afterward for a drink.

“Morgoona!” Came Tony’s soft voice. “Morguana! Lunchtime.”

You broke through the treeline to see the Stark cabin as it sat lakeside. Tony was walking over to a small, colorful tent and took a seat on a stool clearly meant for a child. A kid no older than four-years-old came out of the tent with a giant blue metal helmet on.

“Halt, intruder!” She had a mock Iron Man glove on to complete her look.

“You better do what she says, Stark. She has you at glove-point.”

Tony looked up with his signature smirk as Morgan ripped the helmet off.

“Aunt ____!” She ran into you full force and tackled your legs. Using your powers, you pretended to be overpowered and gently lowered you both to the ground.

“Oh, she’s got me! The Iron Giant has beaten me!” 

Morgan giggled as you used your powers to lift her into the air. 

“Look at this future superhero!” You got back to your feet as Morgan spun gently in the air.

“With the way she keeps messing with Pepper’s helmet, she clearly feels the same,” Tony grumbled as he came over.

You lowered Morgan into his arms. “Does Pepper know about the Rescue armor yet?”

“Knowing Pep? Probably. But she’ll let me surprise her.”

Laughing, you both walked towards his front porch, only to slow at the sound of an approaching car. A black Audi came to a stop and Steve climbed out of the driver’s seat, followed by Nat on the other side and Scott Lang behind him. Which confused the hell out of you. Hadn’t he been snapped?

Stark lowered Morgan to the ground. “Why don’t you help Mommy set up for lunch? Auntie ____ and I will be in shortly.”

“Ok, Daddy,” and off she skipped. 

Your heart had skipped a beat when you saw Steve. He some grey in his blonde hair. Not as much as Stark now had, but you could see his 105 years alive was slowly catching up to him. He had a smile for you and you couldn’t stop yourself from responding in kind.

Shifting your eyes to Nat, you could see her smirk so you cut her off before she could start. “Rhodey still looking for Hawkbutt?”

Her face faltered, but she quickly recovered. “He’s found traces.”

“Just say the word and I’ll take time from the school to help look.”

She had a more genuine smile this time. “Those kids need you. We’ll find him, don’t you worry.”

Tony cleared his throat. “Coffee?”

“Sure,” Nat responded quietly.

You found a seat on his large wrap-around porch and soon he returned with a carafe of ice coffee, four cups, and a glass of Pepper’s homemade tea for you. 

“Well, let’s get the elephant out of the room,” you took a sip of the tea. “I thought you were snapped, Scott.”

Scott did a double-take. “You know my name?”

“I was the one who delivered Zemo to the prison you were being held at, all those years ago.”

“Oh, right. Uh, well I was in the Quantum Realm when the snap occurred and I think that saved me.”

“Sooooo….. How did you get out?”

He looked at Steve with uncertainty, who nodded at him in encouragement. So he launched into the long story of being under house arrest and how that ended up with him trapped in the Quantum Realm. How the past five years felt like five hours. Or was five hours. It was completely unclear to you and you wished Hank was here. But he had been snapped also. No one had known at first as he was on vacation when Thanos happened.

Scott then began to describe a very ludicrous idea of using the Quantum Realm to time travel to take the stones.

“Wait, what?!” That had snapped you out of your own past. “Time travel for the stones?”

“No,” he stammered, “we know what it sounds like.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” you muttered, now wishing you had a Long Island Ice Tea to go with this lunacy.

Steve pipped up. “Tony, after everything you’ve seen, is anything really impossible?”

“It’s impossible for me to turn into literal glass,” you snarked. Time travel. Have they lost their minds? Even if it was possible….

“Quantum fluctuations messes with the Planck scale which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?” Stark cut in. “In layman’s terms, it means you’re not coming home.”

“I did,” Scott answered confidently.

“No,” Tony argued, “you accidentally survived. It’s a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull a… what did you call it?”

“A time heist?”

“Oh lord,” you put your face in one of your hands.

“Yeah, a time heist. Of course. Why didn’t we think of this before? Oh, because it’s laughable. Because it’s a pipe dream.”

“Not to mention dangerous,” you joined in. “Not just for us, but for everyone else on earth. Everyone else who has held funerals and memorials. People who have had five years to move on from loved ones and get into new relationships. And that doesn’t even account for the people that were lost due to the snap. Not the ones snapped, but the ones killed because they were on a plane or a boat or a helicopter or what have you when the snap happened and took the one piloting/driving. Those will forever remain lost. Do you have any clue what kind of mass hysteria that would cause? The chain reaction? What about all the new life that has happened since then? Will that be lost? And this isn’t even going over how none of us - save maybe Logan - could use the stones and survive. Did _ any _ of that go through your brains when you created this _ Back To The Future _ themed mission?”

Everyone was now staring at you. Scott had his mouth moving, but couldn’t form words. Nat knew you were right but was still thinking they had to try. And Steve had a curious look on his face ever since you mentioned Logan’s name.

Only Tony responded. “I was gonna be mad at you for interrupted, but you summed it up better than I could.”

“The stones are in the past. We can get them.” Steve stated.

“We can use them. We can snap everyone back.” Nat added.

“Minus the fact it will indeed kill one of us. It almost killed Thanos and he was a super-powered alien.” You finished off your tea. 

“Not to mention we could make it worse than he did,” Tony concluded.

“I don’t believe we would,” Steve answered confidently. Too confidently, in your opinion. 

“Gotta say it. I sometimes miss that giddy optimism.” Tony finished his coffee.

“This is like those fucking Accords again,” you sighed and stood up. “Good luck with your time heist.”

“Glass,” Steve whispered after you.

You paused for a moment - a dull ache in your heart - before the front door opened and Morgan came out. She ran over to Tony and climbed into his lap.

“Mommy said to come and save you.”

“Good job. I’m saved.” He lifted Morgan up and began to walk to the door. “I wish you were coming here to ask me something else. Anything else. I’m honestly happy to see you guys. New faces other than Nat, Rhodey, and Glass here. Why don’t you join us for lunch?”

Steve stopped Tony just outside the door - that you were still standing at. “Tony, I get it. And I’m happy for you. I really am. But this is a second chance.”

“I got my second chance right here, Cap. You can have yours, too, if you’d stop being so stubborn about what you want.” Tony leaned in and whispered, “or rather who you want.”

He then pulled back to speak to Nat and Scott.

“If you don’t talk shop, you can stay for lunch.” And with that, he went inside.

Instead of going inside, the group went back to the car and you couldn’t let that go.

“He’s scared,” Nat concluded.

“Well, he’s not wrong.” Steve sighed.

“I can’t believe you three. Especially you, Nat.” The group whirled around to face you now coming down the porch steps. “He hasn’t seen you in five years, Steve, and this is the first thing you want to talk to him about? Not apologizing for Siberia. Not apologizing for ripping apart the team for having your head up your ass. Not even to try to make peace in general. Fucking this. And you agreed to it, Nat? You know how Stark feels right now.”

“Glass, I get your hesitation since you’ve also built a life for yourself-”

“Fuck off, Steve,” you interrupted. “I have no life. I took over Xavier’s school because someone had to. No one looked after mutant children before the snap and they give less of a shit afterward. The school is it for me. I have no husband or boyfriend. I barely see Nat since she’s now running the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy - with zero help. I have to keep the X-Men running while looking for homeless children. And keep Deadpool from lighting what’s left of the world on fire because of who he lost in the snap. We all lost someone and/or something ever since the snap. But everything has a shelf-life, Cap. Even rescue missions. I am running around with a glass wall that is one catastrophe away from total collapse. Those of us still here… we just need to learn to live with what we have. And keep from losing even more.”

Before they had a chance to respond, you were back on the patio in a flash and into the house. Tony and Pepper looked up from the kitchen island while Morgan smiled up from her spot at the table.

“Auntie ____, come sit with me!”

“Anything for you, Kiddo.” 

Pepper could tell something big happened but decided to leave it be for the moment. After lunch, you found yourself in the garage with Tony as worked on a blue metal suit meant to fit Pepper. He held out his hand and you handed him the tool he was metally looking for.

“So how’s Logan?”

“He’s Logan. He was alone long before the Professor found him so this is not entirely new for him.” There was a pause. “He still misses Jean.”

“As you miss Steve.” A statement rather than a question. 

“We can’t always get what we want.”

“Ok, chill out Mick Jagger.” He looked up from the heap of metal. “Would you though?”

“Would I what?”

“Be with Steve.”

“In a heartbeat. Despite all he and I have been through - including his stubborn ass personality - I believe we could give it a try. But I don’t know if we’re ever meant to be.” You pulled up a stool next to him. “But what’s really on your mind, Tony? It can’t be my love life.”

He was quiet for a moment too long. “I think they may have been onto something. The time travel.”

“You think you can discover time travel?”

“I think I can. Maybe. Possibly.”

“Then the question is, do you want to? And how do I help?”

“Help? Weren’t you the one reading the Three Stooges their rights?”

“Yes. But I’ve never bailed on you before, Stark. I’m not gonna stop now.” 

There was a pause as you remembered Dr. Strange’s words: _ You know what needs to be done. _

“If you’ve changed your mind. If you’re in, Stark, so am I. We’ll fix this. Whatever it takes.”


	19. Quantum Realm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time travel is explored. Consequences be damned.

You couldn’t sleep. The events of the day kept playing over in your mind, wishing it had gone any other way. 

Steve. It wasn’t the first time you had seen him in the last five years, but it had been the most honest. You were hoping he would have apologized to Tony sooner, made amends. But he never did and for the sake of your sanity, you tried not to push it. But today was something else. You couldn’t hold your tongue any longer.

Sighing, you poured yourself another drink as you sat in the moonlight. There was the quiet sound of the patio door opening and closing behind you, followed by very familiar footsteps.

“Couldn’t sleep, Bub?”

You smiled up at Logan as he took a seat next to you on the bench. “No more than you, apparently.”

He took a swig of his beer. “What happened today?”

“Rogers came by with Nat and Scott Lang, trying to talk about a way to get the stones.”

Logan was about to take another drink but lowered the bottle instead. He was quiet for a few moments. “I think this is the first time I don’t have anything to say. Not even anything sarcastic. Scott Lang? Wasn’t he snapped?”

“So, about that.” You launched into a recap of everything that happened at Stark’s. 

He ran his hand over his face. “Time travel? Even as a mutant that sounds far fetched.”

“Far fetched, but not impossible. Well, if Dr. Strange was still alive. He had the Time Stone. But actually building a time machine? Then there’s the whole snapping-the-gauntlet part.”

“And in that, you were right. I survived a nuclear blast so it stands to reason I could use the glove. And maybe Thor could as well. But other than that?”

“Well, that part’s neither here nor there. First, we’d actually have to figure out time travel. Any mutant ex machina’s coming to mind?”

Logan laughed. “‘Fraid not, Bub. And as for the time machine, I’d offer Fur Ball if he was still around.”

You smiled at Logan’s nickname for Hank. “Yeah, he would definitely have a few dozen ideas. Let’s head to bed. I have a desperate need to forget today.”

“Right behind you.”

But a couple of hours later you were still up, listening to Logan’s breathing. Today had been so much. And what’s worse, it was part of what you had seen in Dr. Strange’s mind.

Which begged the question: if you were able to change the very last part of the outcome (which you would try like hell if you get to that part), what else could you avoid?

Your phone silently lit up on the nightstand. With Logan’s hearing, you had taken to turning off the vibrating part of alerts to keep him from waking up on the rare nights you shared a bed. Between Tony’s insomnia and Wade managing to get into trouble in a post-snap world, it wasn’t unusual for your phone to go off at three in the morning. Rolling over, you could see it was a text from Stark.

_ Star Bright, I figured it out. Meet me at my house in two days. _

Holy shit. The mad scientist actually did it?

Why did you have a bad feeling all of the sudden?

Two days later, you were filling in Ororo with everything she had missed while away. You had convinced her to come back to the school just for the remainder of the week so you could see if this whole “time heist” would actually work. Logan, Remy, and Ann Marie would be staying with her until you said otherwise. Cable had even stopped being a loner to lend a hand. No need to move the whole school if nothing ended up panning out. And they would be safer here, worst-case scenario. 

At the compound, Steve was standing outside wondering if any of this was going to work. Or even a good idea. Suddenly, a black car came racing through the drive up to the compound and squealed to a stop in front of Steve. The window rolled down to reveal Tony.

Steve sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Why the long face? Let me guess, he turned into a baby.”

“Amongst other things, yeah. What are you doing here?”

“It’s the EPR Paradox,” Tony climbed out of the car. “Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might’ve wound up pushing time through Lang. It’s tricky, dangerous. Somebody could have cautioned you against it.”

“You did.”

“Oh, did I? Well, thank God I’m here. Regardless, I fixed it.” He held up his hand to show off a wristband he had spent the last two days perfecting. “A fully functioning time-space GPS.”

Steve smiled. “Thank you, Tony. Truly. And,” he sighed. “I’m really sorry about Bucky. And about the Accords. I know we’ll still need to actually talk about it, but I wanted to start this off right. As I should have a few days ago.”

Tony smirked and held up two fingers. “I just want peace. Turns out resentment is corrosive, and I hate it. But it’s not just me you need to apologize to.”

“You’re right. On both. Do you- do you know where Glass is?” Steve watched Tony walk to the trunk.

Instead of answering, Tony looked back towards the car. The passenger door opened up without anyone there and a moment later you materialized on Steve’s other side.

“Hey, Cap.”

“Hey, Glass.” There was a moment of awkward silence. “Listen, I- I’m sorry. You were right. You were always right.”

An evil smirk crossed your face. “Oh, I’m never going to get sick of hearing that.”

Steve laughed and Tony cleared his throat. “Look we have a real shot of getting these stones back But I gotta tell you my priorities. Bring back what we lost, I hope, yes. Keep what I found, I have to, at all costs. And maybe not die trying.”

_ You won’t, _ you thought to yourself.  _ I promise. Whatever it takes. _

“Sounds like a deal,” Steve held out his hand.

The boys shook hands and while you knew there was still plenty that needed to be aired out between them, you felt a weight being lifted. This whole project had a better chance.

Tony went to the trunk of his car and began to dig through a few of Morgan’s things. He pulled out Cap’s shield that he had taken from him after Germany. 

Steve sighed, “Tony, I don’t know.”

“Why? He made it for you. Plus, honestly, I have to get it out of the garage before Mogan takes it sledding.”

You quickly turned a laugh into a cough and Tony narrowed his eyes at you. “I should probably see what Nat’s up to.”

Tony called after you. “Are you telling me you took my daughter sledding on Cap’s shield?!”

“I’m not telling you anything, Stark!” You raced through the building, still familiar with each corner even if you hadn’t stepped foot inside as often.

Rounding a corner, you could hear familiar voices: Nat, Bruce, and Scott. But when you actually reached the group, you skidded to a halt.

“Uh, hey big guy.” Why the hell is the Hulk here? Did something happen in the two seconds since you heard Bruce’s voice?

“Hey, Glass!” The Hulk waved cheerfully at you… with Bruce’s voice. “Glad to see you’re joining us. Will the X-Men be coming by?”

“Uh, no. What- what the fuck is going on? Am I suffering a stroke?”

“Long story,” Nat walked over and gave you a hug. “But the short version is, it’s now Bruce’s mind in Hulk’s body.”

You blinked. “Oh-kay. So what’s the plan?”

“We’re getting the band back together. Rocket and Nebula are on their way here, same with Rhodey. Rocket and Bruce are going to grab Thor. Haven’t been able to get a hold of Carol.”

“And Clint?”

Nat grew somber. “I have a lead. Gonna head there soon.”

“Want help?”

She gave you another hug. “Don’t worry. I got him.”

You tightened the hug. “Bring back our idiot. We need our brother.”

“I will.”

The time passed quickly. You helped Tony begin construction on the quantum physics platform with Nebula, using your powers to move the bigger pieces. Rhodey and Steve looked on as they began to brainstorm when they should grab the stones or if they should just get the gauntlet.

“Holy shit.” You heard Rhodey mutter.

You poked your head up from the platform and saw Bruce and Rocket walk in with Thor. Only he seemed completely unrecognizable. One look was all you needed to see that the snap had hit him the hardest. All because he didn’t hit Thanos in the head.

Climbing down, you watched him try to act as if nothing was bothering him. Shades on, sweats, and a beer in his hand.

“Hey, Thor.”

“Glass! So good to see you again!”

“You as well.” As he tried to pass you, you grabbed his arm. “When you’re ready to talk, I’m here.”

“I’m fine! Never better, in fact.”

_ Thor, it won’t do you any good to lie to me. _

“No, I supposed not. But unless you can make it go away-”

_ I can. But that wouldn’t be fair to you. Guilt is a thing everyone needs to adjust and live with. But I can help you learn. _

“Not fair. What do you know ab-” He stopped when he saw your eyes. “I suppose you do know. My apologies, Glass.”

“You never have to apologize to me, Thor. Not for anything.” 

“Thank you, Glass.” 

As he walked off, you felt a familiar body behind you. “Poor guy. He’s really hit a rough spot.”

“Depression doesn’t discriminate, Cap. The only difference is how it affects the person. Some gain weight, some lose too much, some drink to excess, some just lock themselves away. But in the end, all need to face it.”

“Only way to get rid of it, I’m guessing.”

“No. Depression never really goes away. You just learn to live with it. To work around it. And to accept the days it wants to claim.”

“Wish I had talked to you sooner.”

You were quiet for a beat before you turned around to face him. “What did depression ruin for you?”

“My relationship.”

“I’m sorry. Sharon was a good woman. You two seemed made for each other.”

Your words caught Steve by surprise. “I always figured you didn’t like her.”

“Sharon and I may not have seen eye to eye - for reasons I’m sure you can guess - but that doesn’t mean I didn’t respect her. She was a good agent and a good person.”

“What about you? Tony made it seem like you were dating some guy named Logan?”

You rolled your eyes. “No, he just wishes I would since I can’t have who I want. You actually met him once. Way back when you first visited the school.”

“The guy with the metal claws?”

Nodding your head, you lead him over to a bench. “Like myself, Logan was in love with someone he couldn’t have.”

Steve blushed at how blunt you were. But you were beyond caring. You had already told him years ago how you felt and he did nothing about it.

“She merged with the Phoenix Force and we hadn’t seen her since. But even before that, she was married to a fellow teacher. So Logan and I find each other when the nights are too dark. Too lonely. We’ve never dated and we’re not in love with each other.”

“Sounds lonely.”

“I already told you, Rogers. The school is all I have right now. Maybe if we fix this, I can find someone who loves me as much as I love them. But right now, I have other priorities.”

And before he could respond, you walked off. That was far more candid than you had aimed to be. 

The week went by slower than you had anticipated. Between building the platform and trying to keep Thor from self-destructing, you had your hands full. But the day finally came to test the machine. 

Rhodey, Scott, and Bruce were discussing the myths about time travel while Nebula programmed a time suit when you heard a long-forgotten voice behind you. “Hey, ____”

You whirled around to see your long time friend right behind you. “Clint, oh my god!”

He laughed as you tackled him with a bear hug. “Missed you, too, Kid. Sorry for disappearing on you.”

You wiped the tears off your face. “No need. I probably would have done the same if I lost everything.”

“That’s a scary thought,” you both laughed.

After a test run of the suit and platform combination, it was time to send the Avengers in the past. You had opted to stay behind in case anything went wrong. You scanned Bruce’s and Tony’s mind real quick to get an idea of how to handle the control panel.

On the platform, Steve addressed the group. “Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams. You know your missions. Glass is here to keep us all anchored. Get the stones. Get them back. One round-trip each. No mistakes, no do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. That doesn’t mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives and we’re gonna win. Whatever it takes.”

_ Whatever it takes _ , you repeated to yourself as you tried to push down the feeling of dread. If Dr. Strange was correct, something was to go wrong during this mission. But because his thoughts had been so quick, you never got the full picture.

“Good luck,” Steve finished.

“He’s pretty good at that,” Rocket conceded.

Steve looked up at you and you winked. _ Yeah, you really are, Rogers. _

He blushed and turned back to the group. 

Tony spoke up. “Ok, you heard the man. Strike those keys, Painted Glass.”

As you began to start up the machine, Nat sighed, excitement on her face. “See ya in a minute.”

The bottom part of the platform began to spin beneath the glass the group stood on as the intricate arms above moved like waves of the ocean. The arms spread out and the group disappeared. 

You were at the controls for maybe a moment, before the group reappeared.

“Did we get them all?” Bruce wondered.

Rhodey was all smiles. “Are you telling me this actually worked?”

But you couldn’t focus on them. For the moment he re-entered the compound, Clint’s thoughts invaded yours. He dropped to his knees, pain radiating off him.

Bruce noticed first. “Clint, where’s Nat?”

He couldn’t answer. Not out loud. But as he looked into your eyes, you knew. And you heard the words that had been said to him and Nat right before they retrieved the Soul Stone.

_ A soul for a soul. An everlasting exchange. _

You didn’t even feel your glass crack this time.


	20. Collision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stones are back. But what condition is Reader in?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It came to my attention that I introduced Glass to everyone over a year ago. I never imagined this one request would become so popular.
> 
> Thank you all who've joined this wild ride! We're halfway there to the breaking point!

Numbness. It was all you knew as you stared out at the lake in front of you. Clint had guided you here - or rather, you guided each other - having collapsed into your arms as soon as he left the platform. He was behind you now, crying over the loss of your common best friend. Your sister minus the blood. Your family.

The other Avengers soon joined you, minus Rocket, Scott, and Nebula sensing that this was a private moment as they didn’t know Nat to the level you all did.

Tony was the first to speak. “Do we know if she had family?”

“Yeah,” Steve’s voice cracked. “Us.”

“What?” Thor questioned, clearly upset. “What are you doing?”

“Just asked him a question.” Tony remained calm.

“Yeah, no, you’re acting like she’s dead. Why are we acting like she’s dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back.”

You slowly sunk to your knees, your hands going to your head.

Clint interrupted Thor. “Can’t get her back.”

“What?”

“It can’t be undone. It can’t.”

Thor laughed. “No offense, but you’re a very earthly being, okay? And we’re talking about space magic.”

“Yeah, look, I know that I’m way outside my paygrade here. But she’s still not here, is she? It can’t be undone. Or at least, that’s what the red, floating guy had to say. Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? Go grab your hammer and you go fly and you talk to him.”

Rhodey noticed you curling into a ball where you stood at the edge of the dock. “Glass? You ok?”

Inside, your anger and sadness mixed with your powers. You shot to your feet, threw your arms down and away from you, shouting all the while.

The lake exploded.

All conversation instantly halted as the Avengers took in the sight of the lake water floating all around. And not as a giant pool of water, but as individual drops. Thousands, if not millions of them. Fish were flopping on the now dry lake bed. 

And you were a sight no one had ever beheld. There was an eerie calm to your anger on your face. And your glow was different. Darker in a way. And it now moved and ebbed around your body. You were no longer like the sun.

You were a neutron star.

“It should have been me,” came your muted voice. “I should have gone with you both. You have your family, Clint, and Nat had the team. It should have been me.”

No one knew how to respond to you. They had never seen an exercise of power to this level from you before.

You turned and Tony had to stifle a gasp. Even the glow of your eyes was different.

“____,” Steve gently called out. “You have every right to be upset. But….”

“You’re afraid of me.”

“Never,” and you could see he was telling the truth. “But I worry about the fish in the now very dry lake.”

Your lip trembled and the water lowered back into the lake. Steve reached for you and you allowed him to pull you onto his lap. Finally, you shed the tears for your lost friend, your glow receding as you did. Steve wrapped his arms around you.

The team breathed a sigh of relief and Tony ushered everyone else inside to finish what needed to end.

Steve cleared his throat. “Glass, I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry. You were right. I couldn’t see past the moment and it cost us everything. It cost me my friendship with you. Ever since I joined the team, you were there. Guiding me, helping me. You gave me Peggy back and you tried to give me Bucky. Can you forgive me?”

You pulled away and wiped your face. “Always. We should get inside. Make what Nat did count.”

“We will.”

Inside, the new gauntlet was assembled and the Avengers gathered around with a couple of the X-Men. Logan smiled over at you.

“Stark called the school and explained what happened. Rogue and Gambit stayed behind to watch the kids.” He stepped closer. “I’m sorry about Natasha.”

“Thank you,” you gave him a hug before Ororo snuck in for one as well. “Thank you for staying.”

“Of course, child.”

“So what are we waiting on?” Cable grunted.

“Well, the glove’s ready,” Rocket answered. “The question is: who’s gonna snap their freakin’ fingers?”

“I’ll do it,” Thor charged forward. “It’s ok.”

“Stop, stop, stop.” Tony got in his way.

Steve stood up next to him. “Thor, just wait. We haven’t decided who’s gonna put that on yet.”

“I’m sorry. What, we’re all just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity? I’m the strongest Avenger so this responsibility falls on me.”

“Thor,” Tony laid a gentle hand on his arm. “Normally, you’re right.”

You moved the guys aside. “Thor, you may very well be the strongest amongst us. I don’t think even with my powers I could take the full might of a dying star to my chest.”

Tony joined calmly. “But we’re telling you, you’re in no condition to do this.”

Banner spoke up. “It has to be me. The radiation is mostly gamma. It’s like I was built for this”

“No, Bruce.” You put your arm out to stop him. “We have no idea if you can heal from something like this. I know the Hulk is strong, but you’re not a full Hulk anymore.”

“I could do it,” Wade lifted his hand, in full Deadpool gear.

“No!” Came the unison response from you, Logan, Cable, and Ororo.

“Glass is right,” Logan added. “It should be me. Back in WWII, I survived the bomb at Nagasaki. I was in a prison camp pretty damn close to the blast. My ability to heal is only matched by that dumbass over there.”

“Hey! I also have a sweet ass!” Deadpool sassed.

“Anyway,” you rolled your eyes, “Let’s suit up first. Regardless of who snaps, we have no idea how it will affect the rest of us.”

“Good idea, Glass.” Tony walked over. “By the way, there’s a surprise for you in the back part of my lab. You know, just in case you ever came back here.”

You couldn’t help the smile, despite the pain in your heart. “Thank you, Tony.”

Towards the back, you found Tony had made you an upgraded suit. The fabric was weaved with vibranium, black with lines of dark blue running up your arms, legs, and boots, and was built to cover your arms and zip almost up to your neck. It fit like a glove.

Back with the group, Logan now held the gauntlet in his hands and you could tell he was nervous about putting it on.

“Any idea how this thing works?”

“I think,” you licked your lips. “I think you put it on and then imagine what you want the stones to do. So in this case, we want to bring back everyone that was snapped as well as keep all the kids born in the last five years.”

“No pressure, huh?” He smirked at you.

“Only as much as you can handle.” 

Steve put on his helmet while Rhodey and Scott closed their suits. Cable stood in front of Ororo and used his arm to project a shield. You moved next to Clint and created a bubble around the both of you. Thor and Bruce moved to stand in front of Rocket. All of you formed a circle around Logan.

“FRIDAY, do me a favor?” Tony tapped the casing on his nano suit. “Activate the ‘Barn Door’ protocol.”

“Yes, boss.” 

Every door and glass wall was soon covered by blast-proof paneling. Logan took a deep breath and moved to put the glove on.

“I can’t believe your tech is strong enough to hold the stones.” You whispered.

“You doubt my abilities?”

“Stark, Thanos had to specifically go to a forge that was built around a dying star and have a glove made out of a metal stronger than vibranium. Forgive me if this seems really convenient."

"I know what I'm doing."

"Not even God knows what you're doing, Stark."

“How about we discuss this after I snap my damn fingers?” Logan grumbled.

Everyone held their breath as the nanotech adjusted to fit Logan’s hand. Once the glove was securely on him, the stones lit up and shot energy up his arm.

Logan cried out in pain and dropped to his knee. He gritted his teeth and focused on his breathing. The glove was still glowing with power and began to burn Logan’s arm.

“Take it off! Take it off!” Thor tried to shout above the noise.

“No, wait!” You cried. “Talk to me, Wolverine. Stay with me!”

Logan growled and cracked his neck to the side. “I’m ok, Kid. Just- just give me a minute.”

He raised his hand and the glow from the glove grew brighter. He managed to snap his fingers and then drop to the ground. The glove slipped off and Thor kicked it to the side.

“Logan, talk to me.” You raced over and touched his cheek, trying to read his mind. “James Howlett, answer me!”

The massive burns on his arms began to heal as Logan groaned. “Damn kid, can’t you give me a minute. Those stones rang my bell really hard.”

“Jesus Christ,” you sat back on your feet. “You big baby.”

Logan chuckled as he sat up, the last of the burn healing. “Told you I’d be fine. But did it work?”

“I don’t know.”

The blast doors pulled away and Scott tentatively walked out towards the patio that was next to the lab. The quiet buzzing of a phone caught your attention and you looked over to see it was Clint’s phone going off. You cautiously walked over with him and could see the caller ID was Laura.

You gasped as Clint slowly answered the phone, afraid it was all a dream.

“Honey?” His voice cracked.

“Guys,” Scott whispered. “I think it worked.”

Suddenly the sky grew dark. You looked up in time to see a warship firing down on the compound.

You latched on to Clint as the entire compound exploded all around.


End file.
